Researchers discover new cell that remembers allergies

Researchers from McMaster University and Danish pharmaceutical company ALK-Abello A/S have made a revolutionary discovery: a new cell that remembers allergies.

This discovery gives scientists and researchers a new target in the treatment of allergies and could lead to new therapies. The research, published in Scientific translational medicinedefines the brand new cell as a Memory Cell B Type 2 (MBC2).

“We discovered a type of memory B cell with unique characteristics and a unique genetic signature that has never been described before,” says Josh Koenig, assistant professor in McMaster’s Department of Medicine and co-leader of the study. “We found that people with allergies had this memory B cell against their allergen, but people without allergies had very little, if any, of it.”

B cells are a type of immune cell that makes antibodies. These cells help fight infections but can also cause allergies.

“Let’s say you’re allergic to peanuts. Your immune system, through MBC2, remembers that you’re allergic to peanuts and when you encounter them again, it creates more antibodies that make you allergic,” says Koenig.

To arrive at this discovery, the researchers created tetramers – a type of fluorescent molecule – from allergens like birch pollen and peanuts to locate hard-to-find memory B cells. Koenig and his team previously wrote the instruction manual for how to use tetramers to locate these elusive cells.

The researchers further leveraged samples from the ALK clinical trials with sublingual immunotherapy tablets, which enable the sequencing of large quantities of IgE-producing B cells.

Using cutting-edge technology such as single-cell transcriptomics and deep sequencing of antibody gene repertoires on clinical trial samples, they were able to establish direct links between MBC2 and IgE, the type of antibody that triggers the allergic reaction. This provided the necessary context, ultimately revealing MBC2 as the focus of allergy.

“Even though allergies are the most common disease worldwide, we still do not fully understand how allergy arises and progresses to a lifelong disease. Finding the cells that hold IgE memory is one step key and game-changer in our understanding of what causes allergy and how treatment, like allergy immunotherapy, can modify the disease,” says Peter Sejer Andersen, Senior Vice President and Chief Research Officer at ALK Sejer Andersen co-led the study with Koenig.

“We are very excited about this discovery and grateful to the McMaster University team for their excellent and productive collaboration.”

The discovery of MBC2 offers scientists and researchers a new target in the treatment of allergies and could lead to new therapies.

“The finding really identifies two potential therapeutic approaches that we could take,” says Kelly Bruton, who co-led the research alongside Koenig when she was a doctoral student. student at McMaster. Bruton is now a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University.

“One is to target these MBC2s and eliminate them in an allergic person. The other option might involve changing their function and making them do something that ultimately won’t be harmful when the person is exposed to the allergen. “

Further work will be needed to better understand and ultimately create therapeutic products, but the discovery of MBC2s offers new hope for those affected by food allergies.

“These are the type of discoveries you really need to make in order to develop the right treatments to block the right cells to stop the disease,” Koenig says.

The research was also co-led by Niels Peter Knudsen and Allyssa Phelps. Manel Jordana, a professor of medicine at McMaster, is also cited by Koenig as being integral to the discovery.