Rutgers Health researchers will enroll primary or secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (p-MS) patients to see if an engineered immune cell therapy can halt the progression of the autoimmune disease. Mistargeted attacks by the body’s immune system and active central nervous system (CNS) inflammation underlie multiple sclerosis. As CNS damage accumulates, patients typically experience increasing difficulty swallowing, balancing, breathing, coordinating movements, generating strength and/or controlling their bladders and bowels. They also can suffer increasing levels of cognitive impairment.
The cellular therapy being tested is made by altering a specific subset of immune cells taken from each patient: regulatory T cells (Tregs). Tregs typically suppress inflammation and autoimmune disease and promote repair. The engineering process enables the modified Tregs to respond specifically to CNS inflammation. After administration, the engineered Tregs will circulate through the body. When they find the inflamed CNS tissue, they will activate to suppress inflammation, reset immune tolerance, limit tissue destruction and enable repair.
“The goal is to reprogram each patient’s Tregs to eliminate the inflammation within the central nervous system, limiting neuronal injury and restoring healthy nerves,” said Vikram Bhise, a professor of neurology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School who will oversee the trial in New Brunswick. “If treatment reverses disease progression, it will constitute a true breakthrough because existing treatments prevent relapses but don’t work for patients with p-MS.” To read the full story.