A team of researchers led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute reported having engineered human immune cells to model an infection common among immunocompromised people. Science Daily reported that these stem cell-derived macrophages could help scientists better understand how the infection invades the immune cells and cause health complications.
Dr. Shicheng Jacky Sun, a researcher at Murdoch, said the immune cell macrophage plays an important role in infection, inflammation, and regeneration. They infected it with mycobacteria to see what immune responses it would trigger.
Stem Cell-Made Immune Cell Model Use in Research
A macrophage is a white blood cell that kills microorganisms, removes dead cells, and triggers the immune system to protect the body from harmful foreign materials. But they are also a natural host for bacteria.
In their study titled "Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Macrophages Host Mycobacterium abscessus Infection," published in the journal Stem Cell Reports, " macrophages are a natural host for many mycobacterium species that affect people with immunodeficiency problems.
Unfortunately, the search for effective treatment for diseases caused by these bacteria, including Mycobacterium abscessus (M. abscessus), is hindered by the lack of a traceable in vitro intracellular infection model. In their study, they described their bioengineered model for M. abscessus infection using stem cell-derived macrophages.
The stem cell model helped researchers to rapidly test and screen various antibiotics against Mycobacterium, according to Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.
Researcher Sohinee Sarkar, Ph.D., said this type of pathogen opportunistically infects people with lung problems like cystic fibrosis and causes infections to the skin and soft tissues in those with immunodeficiencies.
Existing treatments would take months and involve various cocktails of antibiotics with wide-ranging toxicities. However, this infection is highly resistant to antibiotics leaving infected people with fewer options. More so, they are excluded from receiving life-saving lung transplants.
Therefore, improved treatments would reduce hospital visits, shorten a patient's hospital admission, and minimize exposure to toxic antibiotics, which is important for immunocompromised children.
Researchers concluded that the findings of their study describe their knowledge of the stem cell-derived immune cell model for M. abscessus infection, which paves the way for a new and accessible system for studying the infection and drugs against it.
Scanning electron micrograph of macrophages with projectile-looking surfaces that are interacting with lymphocytes which are rounded.
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Macrophages Explained
According to the British Society for Immunology, macrophages are specialized cells that detect, eliminate, and destroy bacteria and other harmful microorganisms. They also present antigens to T cells and cause inflammation through cytokinesis to activate other immune cells.
They are a type of white blood cell that leaves the circulation to various different tissues. Macrophages widely vary based on the required level of specialization within the environment of a specific tissue. Each type recognizes different pathogens and produces reactive oxygen species called nitric oxide to kill phagocytosed bacteria.
Macrophages can migrate and circulate almost every tissue to patrol for pathogens and eliminate dead cells. Some types of macrophages include the alveolar macrophage located in lung alveoli, Kupffer cells in the liver, microglia in the central nervous system, and splenic macrophages in the spleen.
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