Researchers found that two immune signaling molecules, IL-2 and CD40L, can reprogram memory B cells into inflammation-dampening cells. Grown in the lab, these cells calmed severe T cell-driven inflammation in a mouse model and boosted other regulatory immune cells.
Many anti-inflammatory treatments blunt the whole immune system. These lab-grown B cells instead calm overactive T cells while raising regulatory T cells that keep the peace. If the mouse results hold in people, they could lead to cell therapies for inflammatory diseases and transplant complications like graft-versus-host disease.
✦ Your immune system already makes peacekeeping cells. Science is learning how to grow more of them.