Vaccines train adaptive immune cells to target pathogens, but innate immune cells lack this memory. Researchers found small molecules, including some steroids, that can enhance innate immune responses without adverse effects. Vaccines provide a front-line defense against dangerous viruses, training adaptive immune cells to identify and fight specific pathogens.
But innate immune cells — the first responders to any bodily invader — have no such specific long-term memory. Still, scientists have found that they can reprogram these cells to be even better at their jobs, potentially fighting off seasonal scourges like the common cold or even new viral diseases for which vaccines have not yet been developed. A University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) team has found several small molecule candidates that induce this trained immunity without the potential side effects of other methods.
In a twist, they found that several of the top candidates were steroids, a class of drugs that is known to suppress the immune system, not boost it. “This has opened up a whole new line of research in our lab,” said Prof. Aaron Esser-Kahn, who led the research with graduate student Riley Knight.
“Many of the molecules we found are already approved by the FDA for other treatments, which makes this a promising therapeutic direction.” The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The idea of trained immunity has been arou.
