Topic: Artificial lymph nodes

[Nemesis]

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An artificial lymph node has been transplanted into mice, where it successfully produced immune cells. The new form of bioengineered tissue marks a significant step towards transplanting an entire immune system into patients dying of AIDS, cancer or other diseases, say the researchers who carried out the transplant.

After the artificial node had filled with antigen-specific T and B cells, Watanabe transplanted it into a mouse with no functioning immune system. The lymphocytes quickly spread out from the artificial node into the animals' own lymph nodes, which lay empty due to the lack of immune activity.

When Watanabe injected the same harmless antigen into the immuno-deficient mouse, its transplanted immune system responded vigorously, producing massive numbers of lymphocytes to neutralise the foreign molecule. After a month, these cells’ "memory" was still maintained, and they were able to fight off challenges from the antigen.

“It’s one tiny step towards use in humans,” says Watanabe. “The next step is to use human cells in humanised mice. Then, maybe in four or five years, we might be able to make the first prototypes of a human model.”