The Chinese medical team’s Revolutionary CAR-T Therapy: Long-lasting asthma relief with a single injection
### 🚀 The Chinese medical team’s Revolutionary CAR-T Therapy: Long-lasting asthma relief with a single injection.!
📢 Exciting news from the world of medical science! The team led by Professor Peng Min at Tsinghua University has made a groundbreaking advancement in CAR-T cell therapy. Imagine a world where chronic diseases like allergic asthma can be managed with just a single injection. This could soon be a reality!
🌬 **Asthma: A Global Challenge**
Asthma is one of the most common respiratory diseases, affecting over 300 million people worldwide and causing approximately 250,000 deaths annually. Despite the availability of treatments, many patients require lifelong medication, which can be costly and burdensome.
💡 **The Breakthrough Study**
On May 27, 2024, the team published their findings in *Nature Immunology*. Their paper, titled *A single infusion of engineered long-lived and multifunctional T cells confers durable remission of asthma in mice*, introduces a novel CAR-T cell named 5TIF4. This engineered cell targets the factors that trigger allergic reactions. Remarkably, just one injection of 5TIF4 cells was enough to suppress signs and symptoms of allergic asthma in mice for an extended period.
🧬 **How Does It Work?**
Traditional therapies for chronic diseases often require repeated or lifelong administration. However, the 5TIF4 cells are designed to be long-lived and multifunctional. They can neutralize eosinophils (cells involved in allergic reactions) and block key pathways (IL-4 and IL-13 signaling) that drive asthma. This innovative approach not only targets the symptoms but also addresses the underlying causes of the disease.
🚧 **Challenges and Solutions**
While CAR-T therapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, applying it to non-cancerous diseases presents unique challenges:
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**Targeting Non-Cancer Tissues**: Unlike tumors, affected organs like lungs in chronic diseases cannot be eliminated.
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**Longevity of Therapy**: Chronic diseases are lifelong, necessitating long-lasting therapeutic cells.
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**Safety**: Current CAR-T treatments often involve invasive procedures like chemotherapy, which are not suitable for chronic conditions.