Engineers Develop New Approach to Fighting Autoimmune Diseases

A novel treatment approach for combating autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) and cancer developed in a University of Maryland lab was recently published in a trio of top journals: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Molecular Therapy and Biomaterials.

In MS, the body mistakenly attacks its own myelin—the protective sheath that surrounds nerves—causing symptoms such as paralysis and cognitive deterioration. There is no cure, and treatment can cost millions of dollars. What’s more, current drugs for MS can leave patients vulnerable to infections and unable to receive certain vaccines.

Led by Chris Jewell, Robert E. Fischell Institute Professor of Translational Engineering, the treatment focuses on selectively retraining immune cells to stop the body from attacking its own tissue without suppressing the healthy parts of the immune system needed to fight infection. 

“Autoimmune diseases are terrible conditions with tremendous unmet needs,” said Jewell. His lab’s new work uses degradable polymer particles engineered to be too large to drain out of lymph nodes once injected. As the particles slowly degrade, they release “cues” that teach the immune system to respond differently to myelin. In preclinical models of MS, the studies show a single dose durably reversed paralysis and eliminated disease-induced lesions in the brain, while remaining safe for the non-human primates it was tested in.

This approach was a collaborative effort between the Jewell Research Lab; Dr. Jonathan Bromberg, professor of surgery, microbiology and immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine; and additional collaborators from the laboratory of Dr. Richard Pierson at Harvard Medical School.

“This work advances our approach to treating autoimmune diseases by showing potent efficacy, specificity and durability in preclinical models—all goals of new therapies for MS,” said Senta Kapnick, associate research scientist and VA career development fellow in the Jewell Lab, and lead author of the PNAS paper.

The team’s local lymph node approach improves durability without ongoing treatment and minimizes off-target side effects. Additionally, the solution can be used to target cancerous tumors by telling lymph nodes to activate the immune system against them.

This suite of work is the foundation of Nodal Therapeutics, a UMD spinout advancing microparticle-based lymph node therapies toward human clinical trials for autoimmune diseases.

“Dr. Jewell and his lab embody the Fischell Institute’s mission by turning an idea into real impact,” said William Bentley, director of the Fischell Institute.