Asst. Prof. Jun Huang. Credit: University of Chicago
However, establishing these treatments is only possible due to the scientists whove committed their careers to growing our understanding of the immune system. Jun Huang, an assistant professor of molecular engineering at the University of Chicagos Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, is one such scientist.
Armed with new, extremely advanced tools, his work might have far-reaching implications, not just for the treatment of cancer but likewise more broadly for treating infection and autoimmunity.
New understanding leads to new treatments
Huangs work has been explained as molecular immunology with a bioengineering slant. He studies the basic mechanics behind the immune system with a particular focus on T cells (a kind of white blood cell). He and his team utilize a mix of innovative microscopy, custom-designed tools, and resourcefulness to study immunology at the molecular level, and they apply that knowledge to create novel treatments.
Currently, Huang has actually applied his research to develop microscopic traps that catch and eliminate the coronavirus, fix long unanswered questions about cell metabolism, develop a brand-new machine finding out molecular imaging pipeline that can be used in vaccine advancement, and create transformative strategies for identifying CAR T-cells. With each advance, Huang gets that much closer to a goal he embeded in 2009 throughout his postdoctoral training.
” I wish to treat cancer and HIV– 2 major illness we can not dominate yet,” he stated. “Most individuals would naturally think they are extremely various diseases. To us, treating both might be a T-cell issue. HIV contaminates CD4 T cells and disables the human immune system, while tumor microenvironments drive T cell dysfunction and hinders T cell killing of cancer cells. If we can effectively restore T cell functions, we may be able to treat both illness, despite their distinct natures.”
Seeing is thinking
The body immune system is one of the most complicated systems in the body. Within it, billions of highly specialized cells measuring just a few micrometers in size collaborate to fend off a consistent barrage of pathogens– things like bacteria and infections. With so much occurring, scientists have yet to untangle some of our body immune systems more complicated systems. When it comes to CAR T-cell treatment, for example, we do not completely understand why its reliable versus some kinds of cancer however not others.
Huang intends to fill the spaces in our understanding by utilizing several modern technologies and customized in-house devices to study immune cells at the molecular level. His results have actually already opened brand-new doors in cellular research.
” I wish to treat cancer and HIV … Most people would naturally believe they are very different diseases. To us, treating both may be a T-cell problem.”
— Asst. Prof. Jun Huang
In May 2020, Huangs lab integrated openly available software application and artificial intelligence techniques to create a pipeline for analyzing lattice light-sheet microscopy data. Lattice light-sheet microscopy provides high-resolution, 3D video of cells. Huangs pipeline, Lattice Light-Sheet Microscopy Multi-dimensional Analyses (LaMDA), efficiently crunches the vast amounts of data generated by lattice light-sheet microscopy, enabling scientists to utilize individual molecules as data points. LaMDA could have various medical applications, such as drug screening and vaccine advancement, in addition to broadening the knowledge of T-cell biology.
In June 2021, Huang and his team used a mix of genetically encoded biosensors, maker learning, and super-resolution microscopy to visually observe glycolysis– the process by which cells metabolize glucose– at the molecular level. They found that when cells move and contract, they take in more energy which they uptake glucose through a previously unknown receptor– both insights that could further research study into a vast array of diseases. For example, if physicians might prevent glycolysis in lung endothelial cells, they might reduce the results of severe respiratory syndrome in COVID-19 clients.
Huang believes maker learning will be main to advancing our understanding of the body immune system, helping researchers like himself process the large amounts of information generated by super-resolution imaging. When speaking about his work, Huang mentions that his tools provide a way to an end– that he pursues innovation not for its own sake, however to address concerns about immunology and eventually to develop useful treatments. Its a philosophy he arrived on throughout his postdoctoral training..
” I worked in an immunology lab and there was great deals of collaboration with MDs and MD/PhDs,” Huang stated. “That experience changed how I believed. It made me believe, What do medical professionals really believe is essential? What do patients actually need? How can we link the standard science, the fundamental research study to supply that? As an engineer, that is something I want to do.”.
Throughout the pandemic, the Huang Lab moved gears to work on COVID-19. They developed a nanotrap, highlighted here, that connects to the SARS-CoV-2 infection and directs the bodys immune system to ruin it.
In early 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic first emerged, scientists everywhere turned their attention to dealing with the crisis. For Huang and his team, it was a possibility to use their advanced study of immunology to a new risk. They had actually not previously studied COVID-19, immunological research by its nature can be rapidly adjusted to emerging diseases. In this case, the researchers pivoted their research study of exosomes, which are little blisters secreted from cancer cells that reduce the immune system, toward SARS-CoV-2. The team believed they could use that very same mechanism to combat the virus that causes COVID.
Postdoctoral scholar Min Chen and graduate student Jill Rosenberg began and led the project by examining the binding mechanisms behind SARS-CoV-2, a spike-like protein on its surface area that binds to ACE2 receptors protein on human cells.
The group then engineered nanoparticles with a high density of ACE2 proteins on their surface, producing a cellular lure that no covid infection might resist. They likewise consisted of neutralizing antibodies in the style so that once the virus was caught, the bodys immune cells would quickly engulf and ruin the trap, virus and all.
Early tests in mouse models revealed the traps to be efficient in getting rid of the infection and including. They then evaluated the traps utilizing a set of donated human lungs connected to a perfusion gadget and ventilator. They found that the nanotraps were able to entirely block the virus from contaminating the lungs.
The group is now examining methods their nanotraps can be applied to other variations of the infection and has actually started talks with pharmaceutical business to license the innovation.
From fundamental science to medical treatment, the nanotraps developed by Huang and his group represent the potential of his research.
Wanting to the future, Huang plans to adapt much more innovation in his research study of immunology and develop immunotherapy. Huang hopes that with such technologies he will someday satisfy the goal he set numerous years back.
New methods established by the Huang Lab provide researchers a method to understand diseases at the sub-cellular level, possibly opening the door for brand-new treatments. Credit: University of Chicago
Jun Huang from the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago examines ingenious ways to utilize immunotherapy to treat disease.
A new weapon in the fight against cancer has emerged, changing the treatment landscape. CAR T-cell therapy, which was very first authorized for scientific usage in 2017, attacks cancer with a clients own re-engineered immune cells. It has been revealed to be extremely efficient versus some types of lymphoma.
Its success reflects the constant expansion of immunotherapy, a kind of treatment that increases or modifies the immune system to attack illness. Automobile T-cell therapy and other comparable medications are now providing fresh hope in the fight against some of our most tough illness.
Huangs work has been described as molecular immunology with a bioengineering slant. Huangs pipeline, Lattice Light-Sheet Microscopy Multi-dimensional Analyses (LaMDA), effectively crunches the vast amounts of information produced by lattice light-sheet microscopy, allowing researchers to utilize specific particles as data points. Huang believes machine learning will be central to advancing our understanding of the immune system, helping researchers like himself process the huge quantities of data generated by super-resolution imaging. When speaking about his work, Huang points out that his tools supply a method to an end– that he pursues innovation not for its own sake, but to answer concerns about immunology and ultimately to develop useful treatments. For Huang and his team, it was a possibility to use their sophisticated research study of immunology to a new danger.
