Antibody-Functionalized Nanowires: A Tuner for the Activation of T Cells.

T cells sense both chemical cues delivered by antigen molecules and physical cues delivered by the environmental elasticity and topography; yet, it is still largely unclear how these cues cumulatively regulate the immune activity of T cells. Here, we engineered a nanoscale platform for ex vivo stimulation of T cells based on antigen-functionalized nanowires. The nanowire topography and elasticity, as well as the immobilized antigens, deliver the physical and chemical cues, respectively, enabling the systematic study of the integrated effect of these cues on a T cell's immune response. We found that T cells sense both the topography and bending modulus of the nanowires and modulate their signaling, degranulation, and cytotoxicity with the variation in these physical features. Our study provides an important insight into the physical mechanism of T cell activation and paves the way to novel nanomaterials for the controlled ex vivo activation of T cells in immunotherapy.

Can Functionally Mature Islet ß-Cells be Derived from Pluripotent Stem Cells? A Step Towards Ready-To-Use ß-Cells in Type 1 Diabetes.

Pluripotent Stem Cells [PSCs] are emerging as an excellent cellular source for the treatment of many degenerative diseases such as diabetes, ischemic heart failure, Alzheimer's disease, etc. PSCderived pancreatic islet ß-cells appear to be a promising therapy for type 1 diabetic patients with impaired ß-cell function. Several protocols have been developed to derive ß-cells from PSCs. However, these protocols produce ß-like cells that show low glucose stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) function and mirror GSIS profile of functionally immature neonatal ß-cells. Several studies have documented a positive correlation between the sirtuins (a family of ageing-related proteins) and the GSIS function of adult ß-cells. We are of the view that the GSIS function of PSC-derived ß-like cells could be enhanced by improving the function of sirtuins in them. Studying the sirtuin expression and activation pattern during the ß-cell development and inclusion of the sirtuin activators and inhibitor cocktail (specific to a developmental stage) in the present protocols may help us derive functionally mature, ready-to-use ß- cells in-vitro making them suitable for transplantation in type 1 diabetes.

An optimized intracerebroventricular injection of CD4+ T cells into mice.

The blood-brain barrier acts as a major barrier for the entrance of most therapeutics into the brain, impeding treatment for neurological disorders. Intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of T cells is a useful tool for cell therapy of neurological disorders including neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases and brain tumors. Here, we present an optimized ICV injection of T cells with improved injection efficiency at pathological sites within the brain parenchyma. We describe details of the surgical procedure and verification of injection via immunohistochemistry. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Fisher et al. (2014); Strominger et al., (2018); Mittal et al. (2019); Eremenko et al. (2019).

An optimized protocol for the retroviral transduction of mouse CD4 T cells.

Transduction of primary T cells has become prominent with the introduction of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. Although there are many protocols for the transduction of human T cells, it remains a challenge to transduce murine T cells. We present an optimized protocol for the retroviral transduction of murine CD4 T cells, which overcomes major challenges including large-scale production and long-term culturing of transduced cells. The optimized protocol combines high transduction efficiency with a low rate of cell death. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Eremenko et al., 2019.