Thymus transplantation
Scientists from the Russian Federation were the first in the world to successfully transplant the "heart" of the immune system
Russian scientists within the framework of the project of the Foundation for Advanced Research (FPI) were the first in the world to develop a successful technique that allows transplanting a foreign thymus gland (the organ responsible for the maturation of immune system cells) without rejection, Maxim Zabelin, deputy head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA) of Russia, told RIA Novosti.
"Within the framework of the FPI projects, Russian scientists have successfully developed new experimental approaches to overcoming transplant immunity. A group of researchers at the Institute of Immunology of the FMBA of Russia has developed for the first time in the world an experimental technique for purposeful replacement of tissues of the immune system of laboratory animals with genetically alien ones," Zabelin said.
It works on mice
According to him, the technique includes transplantation of a genetically alien thymus gland (thymus), which ensures the formation of a new fully functioning immune system. Currently, most of the research on thymus regeneration is performed on laboratory mice.
Finding out whether these methods work on a person is a real and future big task, the agency interlocutor noted.
"Today, the complete preservation of the functionality and structure of the organ has been achieved for a time comparable to the life expectancy of animals," Zabelin added.
As Alexander Varlachev, the head of the FPI project group, added, it is especially important that after transplantation no additional use of immunosuppression means and methods is required, as is done in all cases of foreign tissue transplantation in order to overcome their rejection by the recipient's immune system.
"Currently, research on the development of new methods of immunocorrection is continuing, for which a group of scientists is working at the Institute of Immunology of the FMBA of Russia with the support of the FPI and a new laboratory is being formed. It is fundamentally important that the Institute of Immunology not only conducts fundamental research, but is also one of the leading domestic medical institutions in the field of immunology and allergology," Varlachev said.
Thymus and longevity
The immune system protects a person from infections and the degeneration of their own cells into cancer cells, but its central organ, the thymus gland, decreases in size from the age of 16, turning into islands of adipose tissue by the end of a person's life. By the age of 75, the mass of the thymus does not exceed 6 grams, whereas the normal weight of this organ at the age of 16 is about 37 grams. At the same time, age-related changes in the thymus are accompanied not only by morphological, but also functional degeneration.
"Despite the achievements of modern medicine, there are currently no effective methods of restoring the thymus gland, although their development could help solve many problems associated with a decrease in immunity," the FPI clarified.
Many scientists around the world are searching for ways to restore the immune system, including the thymus gland. In Europe, the coordination of such research within the framework of the Thymistem project is carried out by the University of Edinburgh. As the most promising direction within the framework of this project, the possibility of transplantation of artificially grown thymus to elderly people, as well as to patients after organ transplantation is being considered.
Today, transplantation of the thymus gland, as well as other genetically alien organs, is not effective in almost all cases: own T-cells of recipients who have (or had previously) own thymus, attack the graft and cause its rejection. The problem of alien tissue rejection is one of the barriers that have not been overcome to date for the development of a number of areas of biomedicine.
"The problem of immunodeficiency on a global scale is due to the rapid increase in the population in need of correction of compromised immunity: these are patients with congenital immunodeficiency, autoimmune pathologies, patients with oncohematological diseases requiring transplantation of donor bone marrow, and just elderly people whose thymus gland function decreases for natural reasons," the FPI concluded.
The Advanced Research Foundation was established in 2012 to promote research and development in the interests of the country's defense and security. The activity is carried out in three main directions – chemical-biological and medical, physical-technical, informational. At the end of 2015, the National Center for the Development of Technologies and Basic Elements of Robotics was established in the structure of the foundation. Currently, the foundation is working on more than 50 projects, more than 40 laboratories have been created for them at leading universities, research institutes and defense enterprises.
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