A new mRNA therapy could rejuvenate key immune cells in the body, helping fight infections and cancer, a mouse study suggests.
T cells help train other immune cells to fight disease. However, as the body ages, these T cells become less active and less responsive to threats. Additionally, the thymus gland, where T cells mature, begins to shrink with age. These effects of aging may explain why vaccines and immune-boosting cancer treatments are less effective in older people than in younger adults, Nature News reported.
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Among other roles, mRNA carries instructions from DNA to the cell’s protein-building organelles and serves as a template from which new proteins are made. The team behind this new study studied T cells from aging mice and identified three proteins that decline with age and appear to contribute to the aging process. They then produced mRNA for these three proteins, wrapped them in tiny fat bubbles and injected them into middle-aged mice, about 16 months old.
These mRNA-filled bubbles traveled through the bloodstream to the liver, where they accumulated. Because most T cells are in the bloodstream, and the liver filters blood, the T cells likely circulated through the liver, where they were exposed to a waiting supply of mRNA.
Mice treated with mRNA produced more T cells than untreated mice. The experiments also suggested that T cells from treated mice responded better to vaccination and cancer immunotherapy.
The effects of the treatment, given to the mice twice a week, disappeared as soon as the scientists stopped the injections. This isn’t necessarily surprising, given that mRNA molecules, whether originally made by cells or made in a lab, are broken down very quickly in the body.
“Due to the transient nature of mRNA delivery, repeated administration is required to maintain therapeutic efficacy,” the study authors said in their paper. However, “the long-term effects of continued exposure to these factors, especially in older adults, should be analyzed through extensive long-term safety studies.”
That means further research is needed to see if the same approach works in humans. Read more about the research in Nature News.
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