title: T cell receptor gene therapy for autoimmune diseases.
abstract: The current quality of autoimmune disease treatments is not satisfactory in regard to efficacy and safety. Antigen-specific immunotherapy is a future therapy that could achieve maximal efficacy with minimal adverse effects. T cells are essential components in antigen-specific immunity. However, we do not have a sufficient strategy for manipulating antigen-specific T cells. We propose that T cell receptor (TCR) gene transfer is a hopeful approach for antigen-specific immunotherapy. We confirmed the efficacy of TCR gene therapy in animal models of systemic autoimmune disease and arthritis. In lupus-prone NZB/W F1 mice, nucleosome-specific TCR and CTLA4Ig transduced cells suppressed autoantibody production and nephritis development. In the therapeutic experiment of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), arthritis-related TCRs were isolated from single T cells accumulating in the arthritis site. Arthritis-related TCR and TNFRIg transduced cells or TCR and Foxp3 transduced cells suppressed arthritis progression and bone destruction. Therefore, engineered antigen-specific cells manipulated to express appropriate functional genes could be applied to specific immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Rheumatology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan. kfujio-tky@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Keishi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujio
authors.forename: Tomohisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell