Cure for Autoimmune Diseases? Immunotherapy Reprograms Rogue T Cells to Stop Self-Attack
In research that may reshape the future of how autoimmune diseases are treated, scientists have achieved a transformative breakthrough using advanced cell reprogramming techniques. The dual papers published in Science Translational Medicine describe the technology that converts abnormal/pathogenic T Cells isolated from animal models or human patients into reprogrammed T Cells (Treg Cells). These Treg cells attack only the diseased tissues without compromising the body’s own immune system. This immunotherapy approach is more personalized and a step closer to targeted cell therapies for a host of autoimmune diseases.
Autoimmune disorders arise when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its own tissues. Traditional immunosuppressive therapies repress the immune system, which potentiates the infection risk and can suppress beneficial immune responses. The new immunotherapy technique, by contrast, promises a precision approach: converting the very immune cells responsible for the attack into cells that re-establish tolerance.
The First Study: Findings and Results
Researchers targeted the condition Pemphigus vulgaris (PV), a severe autoimmune disease that causes blisters and sores on the skin and mucous membranes. They isolated Dsg3-specific pathogenic T cells, the disease-causing cells from mouse models and human patients, and transformed them into harmless Treg cells. Using Specialized chemical tools, the researchers activated or turned on the master regulator Foxp3 gene, which controls the immune response, and blocked a key activation signal to prevent reversion into harmful T-cells.
After injecting these Treg cells into PV Mouse models, they observed that the cells migrated directly to the infected areas, like skin-draining lymph nodes. On reaching, they selectively suppressed autoimmune activity, significantly reducing blistering and tissue damage. This targeted immunotherapy is an improved approach that stands out from other immunosuppressants, which weaken the entire immune system.
The researchers wrote, “These results suggest that adoptive cell therapy with antigen- or disease-specific S/F-i Treg cells (Stem/Foxp3-induced regulatory T cells) could provide a therapeutic strategy for autoimmune and other inflammatory diseases.”
Notable Improvements in the Second Paper
In this study, the same technology was expanded to two other severe inflammatory conditions, inflammatory bowel disease and graft-versus-host disease, using mouse models. The reprogrammed T Cells consistently migrated to sites of inflammation and suppressed pathological immune responses, offering significant protection and symptom relief. The success signaled the universal potential of this reprogramming method, suggesting it could be adapted to any autoimmune or inflammatory condition where dysfunctional T cells are implicated.
The research, co-authored by Shimon Sakaguchi, who won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of regulatory T cells and immune tolerance, demonstrated that disease-driving T cells could be reliably converted into stable, antigen-specific Tregs.
The outcomes of the studies are highly promising, while the scientists caution that active clinical trials are required to understand the long-term safety, stability of the reprogrammed cells and their efficacy in humans. As immune and inflammatory disorders remain a major burden worldwide, these immunotherapy experiments open a door to treatments that are not only more effective but also far safer than conventional immunosuppression.
