Cell delivery articles from across Nature Portfolio

Alternatively activated macrophages have a pivotal role in resolving inflammation but in the tumour microenvironment they are immunosuppressive. Here author show that adoptively transferred engineered macrophages harbouring a heat-inducible genetic switch can resist the polarizing effect of the tumour microenvironment, and do not only remain pro-inflammatory themselves but also re-polarise the endogenous macrophages upon controlled warming with a purpose-made device.

Mouse B cells can be reprogrammed via Cas12a to express human antibodies that when affinity-matured in recipient mice generate broader and more potent antibody variants.

The intravenous injection of neutrophils bearing discoidal polymer microscale ‘patches’ on their surfaces reduces tumour burden in mice owing to the patch-induced polarization of the neutrophils towards an antitumour phenotype.

Oncolytic adenovirus is delivered on T cells and engineered to express a checkpoint inhibitor.

CRISPR–Cas12a was used to directly replace mouse antibody variable chain genes with human versions in primary B cells. The edited cells underwent affinity maturation in vivo, improving the potency of HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies without loss of bioavailability. Affinity maturation of edited cells also enables new vaccine models and adaptive B cell therapies.

Cellular encapsulation holds promise for immunosuppression-free pancreatic islet transplantation. However, long-term graft survival remains a challenge, especially at the subcutaneous site. We harnessed temporary, controlled, inflammation-induced neovascularization to create a modified subcutaneous cavity that supports long-term survival and function of a customized islet encapsulation device without immunosuppression.

Pancreatic islet transplantation stands to enable patients with type 1 diabetes to become insulin-independent. However, the number of islets required to achieve insulin independence is not yet well-defined and depends on the transplantation approach. Here, we contextualize a ‘rule of thumb’ estimate of the islet quantities required for transplantation, and discuss the estimate’s practical implications.

The efficacy of adoptive cell therapy for pancreatic cancer can be augmented by antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells genetically engineered to overexpress a C-X-C chemokine receptor whose ligand is highly expressed by pancreatic cancer cells.

The oral delivery of a microencapsulated bacterial cocktail into animal models of kidney disease promotes the degradation of nitrogenous waste in the gut, thereby supporting renal function.

The cell-selective permeability of a retrievable microporous device encapsulating human therapeutic cells and implanted in the intraperitoneal space of mice provides long-term protection to the transplanted cells by dampening foreign-body responses and preventing the immune rejection of the graft.