Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NANOBreg (A new therapeutic platform based on nanotechnology to promote T- and B-regulatory networks)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2016-05-01 al 2018-04-30
Recently, Santamaria and colleagues discovered that systemic delivery of nanoparticles (NPs) coated with Type-1 Diabetes (T1D)-relevant specific molecules (figure 1) triggers the generation and subsequent expansion of memory autoregulatory T cells (TR1), restoring normoglycemia in diabetic animals. This Project aims at dissecting the mechanistic underpinnings of the cellular network that drives the protection to T1D observed by this new therapeutic platform.
Finally, we have used a model of humanized mice to test our specific NP treatments on human lymphocytes obtained from T1D donnors. We have been able to detect an increase in regulatory B cells that correlates with the upregulation of TR1 cells.
These results will afford the host lab to better understand the intrinsic mechanisms of this new therapy based on coated NPs, therefore increasing the chances of generating better treatments for a wider array of autoimmune diseases. Once these results are completed with the final experiments that are now on course, at least one scientific paper will be published in a high impact, open-access journal.
This project and results have also been disclosed to the scientific public in one national and one international Congresses, and to the general public in several talks given at cultural centers, schools and a science museum.
All the results obtained so far will be of great importance in the development of this new therapeutic platform. Understanding all the mechanisms that drive the protection observed with the nanomedicines will afford the lab to prepare better medicines and expand them to other auto-immune diseases. For example, the results showing that the used nanomedicines can reduce the levels of autoantibodies in a B cell dependent autoimmune disease, will help to expand the range of autoimmune diseases that our nanotherapy can target to all those mediated by B cell produced autoantibodies.
The clinical and market potential of the proposed therapy is enormouse. Our results will enhance the Intelectual Property (IP) portfolio, including patents issued in several countris, including the EU and the US.