“Prevented cardiac fibrosis”: Zhejiang University publishes engineered dendritic cell therapy in Nature

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Chinese researchers have developed a new cell therapy that inhibits cardiac fibrosis, a major cause of heart failure, and improves damaged cardiac function, publishing their findings in the international academic journal Nature.

According to the biotech media outlet BioOn, a joint research team led by Professors Hu Xinyang and Xu Yang of Zhejiang University in China announced on the 8th (local time) that engineered dendritic cells (iCDCs), designed to have immunosuppressive functions, reduced inflammation and fibrosis and improved cardiac function in animal models of heart failure.

Heart failure affects more than 56 million people worldwide, and its prevalence continues to rise. In particular, cardiac fibrosis, in which the heart muscle becomes stiff, is a key factor that worsens heart failure, but no treatment is currently available that can effectively prevent or reverse it.

The engineered dendritic cells developed by the research team were created by genetically modifying dendritic cells, which are key cells that regulate immune responses. These cells directly suppress the activity of immune cells and stromal cells that cause chronic inflammation in damaged cardiac tissue.

At the same time, the team identified a mechanism by which the cells induce the proliferation of regulatory T cells, which have immunomodulatory functions. This enables the balance of the immune response to be readjusted only at the local site, protecting the heart without systemic immunosuppression.

The team evaluated the effects of the engineered dendritic cells in various mouse models of heart failure, including ischemia-reperfusion injury, myocardial infarction and pressure overload. The results showed that the treated mice had reduced inflammatory cardiac fibrosis and improved cardiac blood supply and contractile function.

Notably, in a primate model of induced myocardial infarction, the engineered dendritic cells reduced cardiac fibrosis and improved cardiac function without causing systemic toxicity. This is an important result that increases the potential for future application in humans.

The research team explained that the study demonstrated that lesion-targeted immunomodulation is a feasible strategy for controlling cardiac fibrosis. The team also emphasized that engineered dendritic cells could become a promising therapeutic platform for treating cardiac remodeling and heart failure.