Researchers from Pritzker Molecular Engineering, under the guidance of Prof. Jeffrey Hubbell, demonstrated that their compound can eliminate the autoimmune response linked to multiple sclerosis. Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) have developed
This article is garbage but I’m a molecular biologist and the publication they’re talking about is really neat.
The “ELI5 to the point of maybe reducing out the truth” way to explain it is that the researchers can add “flags” to proteins associated with immune responses that make cells pick them up and examine them. This is shown to work for allergins (so say, add a flag to peanut protein and the cells can look at it more closely, go “oh nvm this is fine” and stop freaking out about peanuts) as well as autoimmune diseases (where cells mistake other cells from the same body as potential threats).
It’s not nearly to a treatment stage, but tbh this is one of the more exciting approaches I’ve seen, and I do similar research and thus read a lot of papers like this.
There’s a lot of evidence that we are entering a biological “golden age” and we will discover a ton of amazing things very soon. It’s worrysome that we still have to deal with instability in other parts of life (climate change, wealth inequality, political polarization) that might slow down the process of turning these discoveries into actual treatments we can use to make lives better…
Still, don’t doubt everything you read! A lot of cool stuff is coming, the trick is getting it past the red tape
“Red tape” eh? Shit if I had MS or AIDS I’d get some red contact lenses and some fake white fur, just don’t ask where the rat tail is attached, and be in for clinical trials in the AM. “I’m a rat it’s fine. I mean squeek squeek.”
That is so funny… tbh I know I’d get shit for this professionally, but it definitely frustrates me that we don’t allow people with few other choices to have access to crazy, left field treatment stuff.
My best friend died of a specific and rare cancer this year. We know exactly how that cancer works on a molecular level, and we’ve found a few chemicals that interfere with the function of those cells in vitro while not seeming to harm average cells.
Sure, it’s a huge risk to take that drug that’s only been tested in a dish, and it wouldn’t be worth it for most people. But he was going to (and did) die within a year of diagnosis. It’s not like he had other options.
Maybe he should have invested in a rat costume ;)
getting it past the red tape
And into the grey matter of those damned antivaxxers. 🙄
At least this is about autoimmune diseases which aren’t contagious.
Every time I see articles like this I’m very happy for everyone having those horribly debilitating and deadly autoimmune diseases.
Then with some shame I hope it might maybe one day also cure my slightly debilitating non deadly simple allergies one day.
Yay it seems it might be good for both!
As someone with both Multiple Sclerosis and a whole bunch of environmental and food allergies, I hope we both get helped.
Well, you’ll also be happy to know that they started this work on allergin way before working on autoimmune disease, and in my opinion, the evidence that it works for allergies is much stronger than how it works for autoimmune diseases! Not necessarily because it won’t work for auto immune stuff… just that they have done less confirming.
I have severe allergenic asthma so I was excited about it too 😁
Hope it’s not a stupid question but would this kind of thing work for ankylosing spondylitis??
I ask because I suffer from AS the doctor’s that I’ve gone to are always arguing whether it’s an autoimmune or an autoinflammatory disease, and on the web it says that the underlying mechanism is either of the two as well.
So it’s not clear to me whether it’s one or the other, or if itimplies the same thing. I’ve read a huge deal about AS but I’m not really good at biology or medicine to understand a lot.
Honestly the only reason I’m commenting -and asking- here, is because I want to have hope that this actually leads up to something that can help me stop this fucking pain that makes me feel like I want to die (figuratively) but I’m afraid of this being a clickbait article.
Also my English is not the best so sorry for any mistakes and for the long comment.
I’m sorry! My knowledge of this process does not extend to the point where I could even give you a hint of the answer. To be honest, it would require me diving into the underlying mechanisms of your condition, and it sound like your doctor has said it isn’t even settled science why it’s happening, so I don’t think anyone can tell you if this would work for you.
I know that isn’t what you wanted to hear, but two things: 1) this treatment is a long way off anyway, so anyone will have to wait for it to be available, and 2) there are probably many other treatments coming down the line for your condition… even if those also take a long time.
Anyway, I’m sorry for your pain and that I couldn’t help! Honestly, I hope something will be available to help you many years before this becomes a treatment option.
Do you take humira or another medicine for it? I have AS too and it’s bearable with Humira for me. But yeah if this research leads to something that would be great
Oof I’ve had an experience with these meds…
I used to take Humira for 5 years but my country stopped delivering it (I used to live in Venezuela), then I moved ti the US and started Humira again, but it was about 30-50% effective only, I still had a lot of pain
I then went through Cosentyx and Taltz, none worked. Then I tried Enbrel, same effectiveness, got it through a foundation. Healthcare didn’t want to cover it and the foundation didn’t approve me if I had Healthcare.
Got sick in the US, lost all my money (due to lack of money), so I spent the little I had saved to return to my country, moved to Brazil and I’m about to start Golimumab (Simponi) tomorrow, hopefully it works because I haven’t gotten medication in 2 months and the pain feels unbearable.
Having said all this, if there is a speck of a chance that this helps people with AS and other similar conditions, it would make me happy. Having this kind of pain is unbearable.
Sorry for the long comment, I suddenly wanted to rant about this!
Wow. You’ve tried a lot more than me. I just met a nurse in the airport and she said to try this drug she administers, but I can’t remember the name now… she did send me a link to their website though. But honestly I’m a bit suspicious of stuff like this. https://www.soleohealth.com/chronic-inflammatory-disorder/
But I mean, if you’re desperate then maybe give them a call, idk. Kinda seemed too good to be true, the story she was spinning for me.
That would also work for cancer then, wouldn’t it? Since the mutated cells hide from the immune system you can mark a few to get the immune system to take a look and realize that shit is happening, or am I oversimplifying too much?
There are immunotherapy treatments for cancer already. Infections and cancer use the immune system the correct way: “tag” the problem cell/virus part with an antibody, make a lot more antibody and flood your body with it to clear the problem cell/virus.
This is the process a vaccine uses. The old vaccine method is to take a bunch of dead bacteria or inactivated virus and put that in your body. Your body should identify it and begin making antibodies against it. If you do get exposed to the disease, your body is full of antibodies which can immediately clear it, rather than letting the infection/cancer work for a few days without much of an immune response.
An autoimmune disease, a body “tags” its own cells. Then the immune system invades the person’s own tissue.
I have celiac disease. If I eat gluten, the enzymes I use to digest gluten become tagged. Unfortunately, humans make one gluten enzyme (TG2) that’s found everywhere in the body. A third of celiacs will have their thyroid tissue affected if they consume gluten.
One particular antibody, IgE, is known for extreme reactions to antigens. These are the ones known for the immediate and life-threatening allergies (peanuts, shellfish, bees, wheat).
This new stuff appears to be a way to tag antibodies or antigens or memory T cells (they hold the “blueprints” to make antibodies really quickly after your natural antibodies go away) and have the immune system “re-evaluate” the antigen. I’m guessing from the post above and a little of the article. I haven’t heard of this process in the body before.
Cancer itself is not autoimmune (autoimmune inflammation can make it more likely to happen, but tumors don’t form directly through autoimmune mechanisms). So the first pathway used for normal vaccination is what’s needed. The difficulty lies in knowing something in each specific cancer that would make a good antibody target. It is a person’s own cells and DNA, so a lot of care has to be taken to find an appropriate antigen. Immunotherapy treatments that exist are really specific to certain types of cancer. They have much less severe side effects than radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
You’re not oversimplifying from my description, my description was just too simple itself! Unfortunately, no, it wouldn’t work like this. The whole idea is that the cell would pick up anything and discover that it isn’t as dangerous as it thought. That’s the opposite of what we’d want for cancer cells!
Luckily, there are many, many other treatments for various cancers coming in due time, also. My research is actually closer to cancer research than immunology, so I can tell ya-- there’s good stuff coming!
Notably they trialled first for coeliac autoimmune, but it’ll be 2024 before phase 2 results are out for that. About 10 years back there was a similar vaccine which also passed phase 1 trials but failed at phase 2. Phase 1 is basically testing that the vaccine does no harm in small groups and it is phase 2 where they measure if it is actually efficacious and to what level. If it passes phase 2, then get your hopes up.
I work in clinical (and preclinical) trials. And I have celiac disease. I’m hopeful but not optimistic that I’ll be able to eat pasta within the next decade.
I’ve been following cures like this for years. There are three candidates in phase 2 trials right now that appear to work, they’re mostly figuring out the doses needed and there’s a big question on how long they last. Hopefully permanent but we don’t know for sure.
Diabetics have just been so beaten down by this whole thing. I was told the cure was 10 years away 40 years ago. Even if the technology described here works we could be another 15 years before we see it. Researchers said it could be here as soon as 5 years, which is true if unrealistically optimistic. I believe the cure is coming but I’m not holding my breath until I’m actually in front of a doctor about to receive the cure whatever it happens to be.
It’s a clash between scientists needing to be optimistic about their findings to maintain funding and real people needing it asap. We need to fund more medical research outside of for-profit corporations and increasingly expensive academia
Imagine if the research and development of treatments and vaccines for endemic pathogens and genetic disorders were… you know… socialized
Hopeing there was stem cells used in the research for no particular reason.
My wife has MS. And even though we are of course far from being at a point where the disease will be cured, articles like this give hope.
There are a lot of smart people who are dealing with the topic. Hopefully they can get something solid done soon!
Unpopular opinion: Anyone who refused the COVID vaccine should be banned from getting this.
Honestly asking, why even bring this up? What does this have to do with the topic of the post?
All you do is start an argument and divert away from the topic that was supposed to be discussed.
Just spiteful. And ironic if you really want to claim to care about public health
Just spiteful.
Wanting to have two seperate conversations about two seperate vaccines is “spiteful”? Really?
And ironic if you really want to claim to care about public health
And I do care about public health, allot. For the record, I’m fully vaccinated.
You don’t want to get a vaccine to help others + yourself, you shouldn’t be allowed to “believe in science” when it benefits you and only you.
You don’t want to get a vaccine to help others + yourself, you shouldn’t be allowed to “believe in science” when it benefits you and only you.
Such a non-sequitur answer. And for the record, I’m fully vaccinated.
Go somewhere else to talk about your favorite vaccine. Don’t DERAIL this conversation about a completely different vaccine.
Don’t DERAIL this conversation about a completely different vaccine.
I was replying to a question. Please follow the context thread, or go away.
Don’t DERAIL this conversation about a completely different vaccine.
I was replying to a question. Please follow the context thread, or go away.
Here’s what you said, context wise …
Unpopular opinion: Anyone who refused the COVID vaccine should be banned from getting this.
You weren’t responding to a question, you were just offering your own opinion, an opinion that was different from the topic and the context of the conversation being discussed, and hence my reply to you, calling you out for it.
You’re being intellectually dishonest.
Ya, I am allowed to post my opinion. I don’t think people who refuse a vaccine that can help save others should be allowed to receive a vaccine that benefits only them.
If you’re upset, you’re part of the problem. Not my fault. If you don’t want to see my comments, which I am free to post, block me.
In fact, don’t worry about it. I will block you, because your reply is insane. Literally complaining to me because I posted my opinion, and then calling me intellectually dishonest. Nutters.
Ya, I am allowed to post my opinion.
No one says you’re not. The only point I was making is you’re posting your opinion in the wrong place and you’re ‘muddying the waters’ of the conversation.
That point was said straightforward to you, but you chose to ignore it and try to move the goal posts onto something else.
If you’re upset, you’re part of the problem. Not my fault.
I’m not upset at all, I was just asking a question, why are you expressing an opinion that doesn’t match the conversation being had and that you know would be inflammatory and pollute the conversation.
You keep trying to warp the meaning of my initial critique of your initial opinion into something else to win an Internet argument.
You continue to be intellectually dishonest.
Yes but can we make a boatload of money off it?
I just got slapped with an auto immune problem with my thyroid. It’s inflamed and will never go back to normal. So far I only have a fat neck and I’m stable but at any moment I might develop hypothyroidism because of this. I can’t wait for this to work.
Edit: having said that… the source of this post has been known for clickbait bullshit articles so maybe I shouldn’t hold my breath :(
The source of this post might be. But the study is solid as far as I can see. It was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering last week.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41551-023-01086-2
As phase I clinical trials are underway, we’ll see how far this can get. But sure, don’t expect too much, then you won’t be disappointed. Let’s hope it can really help people.
Thanks for that link. I trust nature.com quite a bit more
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More work is needed to study Hubbell’s pGal compounds in humans, but initial phase I safety trials have already been carried out in people with celiac disease, an autoimmune disease that is associated with eating wheat, barley, and rye, and phase I safety trials are underway in multiple sclerosis.
Reverse Type 1 Diabetes
Didn’t even read past that lie.
