Treating Immune System Disease Using Interspecies Cell Donation
The immune system is a critical defense mechanism, fighting off disease and infection. However, the dysfunction of the immune system can lead to debilitating conditions such as lupus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). While therapies such as bone marrow transplants have shown promise, the ability to find suitable donors provides a massive barrier. Recent research suggests that blastocyst complementation holds the potential for generating functional immune cells to address immune disorders. When HHEX knockout mice underwent blastocyst complementation, the resulting chimeras were able to
produce exogenic liver cells. To test the feasibility of this process in generating immune cells, the chimeric mice underwent antibody staining for c-KIT within the fetal liver. The co-expression of c-KIT and green fluorescence protein (GFP) would provide evidence of the successful generation of exogenic immune cells. Successful generation of these cells can lay the groundwork for using human-animal chimeras to generate immune cells and treat diseases.