VinFuture 2023

The event is part of the series of talks “Science for Life”, within the framework of VinFuture Science and Technology Week 2023.

Treat autoimmune diseases with T-cell therapy

The seminar “Promoting precision immunology to treat natural disorders” attracted great attention from domestic and foreign scientists when addressing a hot issue in the biomedical community: Natural disorders. exempt.

Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh – Clinical lecturer in the Health Sciences Department, VinUniversity – provides information: Autoimmune diseases (a condition in which the autoimmune system attacks body cells) were previously considered rare, but has now become popular.

Autoimmune diseases are found in about 10% of the world’s population and about 4% of the Vietnamese population. That means out of 100 million Vietnamese people, about 4 million people have the disease. That’s why currently 20% of biomedical research globally focuses on autoimmune diseases.

Regarding treatment, T-cell therapy is a trend in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer. T cells act as gatekeepers, able to recognize abnormal antigens in the body such as cancer cells.

However, the role of this cell in treating specific autoimmune diseases as well as the cost issue is a story that biomedical scientists are focusing on finding answers to.

GS. Shimon Sakaguchi – Osaka University, Japan, the first person to discover regulatory T cells (Treg) to treat immune diseases – said: “The role of T cells is significant in thyroid inflammatory diseases. autoimmune enteritis, autoimmune enteritis, can be applied in some cancer diseases or to treat infections in organ transplant patients. However, how to achieve the target effect in this antigen with all Other diseases are issues that are being researched and have no answers yet.”

According to Professor. Shimon Sakaguchi, the use of T-cell therapy is being applied to some specific diseases. In some cases, scientists do not have evidence to prove that using antibiotics is better or using T-cell therapy is better.

“When determining a better treatment option, we must consider not only medical factors but also economic factors. How to reduce treatment costs is also a challenge,” Professor. Shimon Sakaguchi said.

Prevent autoimmune diseases through improving the beneficial microflora through diet

Currently, a number of biological drugs using T-cell therapy have been used to treat autoimmune diseases, but the cost is very high. For example, a treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus with CD19-Car-T costs up to $80,000. Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh believes that pharmaceutical companies in Vietnam need to have a production mechanism to reduce drug costs so that many Vietnamese patients can use them.

In the long term, according to experts, it is necessary to promote research on the microbiome and identify beneficial bacteria to effectively improve the immune system to prevent autoimmune diseases. This is a promising direction for mass application on people.

GS. Pascale Cossart – Head of the Cell Department at the Pasteur Institute Paris, France, shared: “We are researching a lot about this content: Which microorganisms can be used as appropriate therapies; Can we isolating a beneficial microorganism to treat all patients or not; What diet can be applied to create the maximum amount of beneficial bacteria for the body…”

GS. Cossart also added that the microbiome in the human body differs according to geographical region and depends on the diet. Therefore, people can completely change their immune system with an effective, healthy and close to nature diet.

Ms. Cossart also cited a study showing that children who grow freely in natural environments have healthy immune systems, including eating food contaminated with mud and dirt.

Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh added that currently biomedical scientists are identifying biomarker factors for early diagnosis of autoimmune diseases.

“The problem is that specialties need to coordinate treatment at the same time to best help patients. 25% of patients have not only one autoimmune disease but many diseases at the same time. For example, patients have both physical diseases and psychology, both need to be treated,” Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh expressed his opinion.

Box: Also in the series of seminars “Science for Life”, on December 19, world and Vietnamese scientists will have 2 sessions discussing issues of concern in the world including: ” Sustainable Infrastructure and Green Transportation”, “Artificial Intelligence: Breakthrough Potential and Challenges”.

In parallel with the Scientific Seminar, the “VinFuture Future Discovery Dialogue Series” was held for the first time, helping to open up opportunities for cooperation and potential technology transfer from around the world to Vietnam. Specifically, 9 organizations including Vietnam’s largest research institutes, universities and businesses will participate in in-depth discussions with the world’s leading scientists on “New technology in cancer treatment”. ; “Modern agriculture aims for net zero emissions”; “New technology in treating infectious diseases and HIV for young women”…

The focus of the global scientific community is the VinFuture 2023 Awards Ceremony, which will take place on the evening of December 20, 2023 at Hoan Kiem Lake Theater (Hanoi). Here, scientists with breakthrough works, selected from 1,400 research projects from more than 90 countries around the world, will be officially honored for their contributions and creating positive changes for society. the lives of millions of people around the world.

The event is part of the Science and Technology Week and VinFuture Awards 2023 taking place from December 18 – 21, 2023 in Hanoi.

Before the event, Prof. Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi shared with readers about important discoveries with Treg cells and their potential to help millions of patients.

The journey to find the cause of the disease in millions of people

– His discovery of regulatory T cells (Treg) is considered one of the major turning points in medical history related to autoimmune diseases – disorders that affect ten percent of the world’s population. Specifically, how did GS discover regulatory T cells?

I became interested in the mechanism of immune disorders, also known as autoimmune diseases, when I was a medical student. At that time, I observed interesting phenomena when trying to remove the thymus in mice. This impact caused autoimmune disease symptoms in laboratory mice, very similar to humans.

Upon further investigation, I determined the properties and characteristics of a subset of T cells (Tregs) from adult mice. When removing this group of cells (instead of removing the thymus), mice suffer from many autoimmune diseases. Surprisingly, autoimmune diseases can be cured if we transfer Treg cells from healthy mice to sick mice.

Upon further evaluation at the molecular level, my research team discovered the key role of a molecule (called the transcription factor Foxp3) in Treg cell activity. Through studying mutations in Foxp3, we determined that abnormalities in this cell group are one of the causes of autoimmune diseases in humans.

– How has our understanding of Tregs impacted the field of immunity in general and research on autoimmune diseases in particular, Professor?

Treg research worldwide over the past 25 years (for me more than 40 years) has helped define three basic concepts. First, self-reactive (autoimmune) T cells (the cause of autoimmune diseases when these cells become mutated and attack the body – PV) are not completely eliminated in the thymus during the process. negative selection process. These cells may still be present in the peripheral immune system of normal people.

Second, in a normal state, Treg cells inhibit the proliferation and activity of autoimmune T cells. Therefore, when Treg cells are deficient or dysfunctional, they can cause autoimmune diseases.

Third, we can treat and prevent autoimmune disease by increasing the number or function of Treg cells in the body. Similarly, Treg also plays a role in cancer immunity and transplant immunity. Therefore, we can enhance the immune response to destroy tumors by reducing the activity of Treg cells. In the opposite direction, improving function or increasing the number of Treg cells helps prevent graft rejection.

The potential to “prevent disease at the source” of regulatory T cells

– In fact, how will cell therapy in general and Treg in particular, work for patients around the world?

The world is focusing on Treg cell research in the treatment of diseases related to the immune system. Because, instead of treating autoimmune diseases symptomatically, that is, the tip, we seek to prevent the disease from the root by affecting Treg cells. However, as far as I know, there is currently no treatment method that has proven to be highly effective in humans. This is both a challenge and an opportunity to develop Treg therapy with desired clinical effects.

– Specifically, what methods are there for treating diseases with Treg therapy and what is the potential for future development, Professor?

Currently, increasing the number of Treg cells in the body by injecting low doses of IL-2 is currently in clinical trials. In the future, new advances in Treg research may help find new drugs capable of increasing the number of antigen-binding Treg cells.

Another method is to increase the number of Treg cells in a test tube and then infuse them into patients to treat the disease. With this approach, the scientific and medical community also hopes to have a method to create Treg cells in vitro with stable function and antigen specificity to help patients.

– Dear Professor, you will soon come to Hanoi to attend VinFuture Science and Technology Week 2023. What do you expect from this event and here, what issues do you plan to share?

The seminar “Promoting precision immunology to treat autoimmune disorders” at VinFuture Science and Technology Week 2023 is a highly anticipated event with the participation of many leading industry experts. Here, I will have a presentation with the content: “Regulatory T cell therapy helps treat immune diseases” to share more specifically about Treg with scientists and health care experts. in Vietnam as well as the world. Hopefully we will have more new insights into this therapy to help patients around the world.

– Thank you GS!