‘Artificial Lymph Node’ Used to Treat Cancer in Mice
Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have developed an artificial lymph node with the potential to treat cancer, according to a new study in mice and human cells. The newly developed lymph node — a sac filled with immune system components — is implanted under the skin, and is designed to act like a learning hub.
Details of the experiments are published recently online and in the June 6 issue of Advanced Materials.
Lymph nodes — tiny glands throughout the body, mainly in the neck, armpits and groin — are part of the immune systems of mammals, including mice and people. They number in the hundreds so that immune cells in one area of the body don’t have to travel far to alert the immune system to impending danger.
“They are a landing spot where T-cells, the immune system’s fighting cells, lay dormant, waiting to be activated to fight infections or other abnormal cells,” says Natalie Livingston, Ph.D., first author of the research and currently a postdoctoral researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Because cancers can trick T-cells into staying dormant, the artificial lymph node was designed to inform and activate T-cells that are injected alongside the lymph node.”
To create the artificial lymph node, the scientists used hyaluronic acid, a moisturizing substance commonly used in cosmetics and lotions and found naturally in the body’s skin and joints.
Because of its properties, hyaluronic acid is often used in biodegradable materials such as wound healing patches meant to be implanted or applied to the body. Among those properties, hyaluronic acid can connect with T-cells via a cell surface receptor.
Johns Hopkins scientists led by Jonathan Schneck, M.D., Ph.D., published research in 2019 showing that hyaluronic acid boosts T-cell activation.
For the current study, the Johns Hopkins team used hyaluronic acid as the scaffolding, or base, for their new lymph node, and added MHC (major histocompatibility complex) or HLA (human histocompatibility antigen) molecules, which rev up T-cells and other immune system components. Then, they also added molecules and antigens common to cancer cells to “teach” T-cells what to look for.
“By adding different antibodies to the artificial lymph node, we have the ability to control what the T-cells are being activated to search for,” says Livingston.
The resulting artificial lymph node is about 150 microns in size, about twice the width of a human hair. It’s small enough to remain under the skin and large enough to avoid being swept away in the blood stream.
“An advantage to this approach over other cell-based therapies such as CAR-T is fewer manufacturing steps,” says Schneck, who is a professor of pathology, medicine and oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Translational Immunoengineering, and a member of the Institute for Cell Engineering, Kimmel Cancer Center and Institute for NanoBioTechnology.
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