{"id":133044,"date":"2018-01-03T10:38:11","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T15:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?post_type=school-college-post&p=133044"},"modified":"2018-01-05T09:45:55","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T14:45:55","slug":"research-scientist-uses-gene-engineering-stem-cells-treat-cancer-autoimmune-genetic-diseases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2018\/01\/research-scientist-uses-gene-engineering-stem-cells-treat-cancer-autoimmune-genetic-diseases\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientist uses gene engineering and stem cells to treat cancer, autoimmune and genetic diseases"},"content":{"rendered":"

The body\u2019s immune system regularly protects us from viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi. A complex network of cells, proteins and organs, the immune system responds to pathogens and infection, working to keep us healthy and defend our bodies against disease. However, our immune system may not always dependably guard us. Serious diseases can alter the effectiveness of the immune response, as in the case of cancer, immune deficiencies and some genetic disorders. Associate Research Professor\u00a0Laijun Lai<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Department of Allied Health Sciences<\/a>\u00a0is studying the immune system\u2019s reaction to these diseases on a molecular level, through investigation of the production and function of T-cells, a type of white blood cell. Lai aims to manipulate the behavior of T-cells using a gene engineering approach and stem cells to fight the many incurable forms of cancers, autoimmune and genetic diseases that afflict millions around the world.<\/p>\n

Lai has spent over two decades researching these deadly and debilitating diseases. Funding support for his work has come from the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, Connecticut Department of Public Health and Connecticut Innovation\u2019s Regenerative Medicine Research Fund, formerly the Connecticut Stem Cell Program. His previous gene engineering research has resulted in two patents related to producing a recombinant hybrid cytokine rIL-7\/HGF\u03b2 protein that consists of IL-7, a cytokine involved in early T-cell development, and HGF\u03b2, which directs many cell functions. A cytokine is a type of protein that controls communication between cells, affecting the behavior of cells in immune response. The recombinant protein rIL-7\/HGF\u03b2 has shrunk and eliminated tumors caused by colon cancer and melanoma in lab mice through manipulating T-cell response.<\/p>\n

\u201cCancers shield themselves from the immune system by inhibiting T-cell functions,\u201d says Lai. \u201cCheckpoint molecules tightly control T-cell responses, which stimulates or inhibits activity in the cell. Tumor progression often accompanies a profound immune suppression that interferes with an effective anti-tumor response and tumor elimination. In the past several years, many new drugs for targeting T-cell checkpoint molecules have received approval by the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. We believe our studies will eventually lead to new drugs to treat these diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full article at Naturally@UConn<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The body\u2019s immune system regularly protects us from viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi. A complex network of cells, proteins and organs, the immune system responds to pathogens and infection, working to keep us healthy and defend our bodies against disease. However, our immune system may not always dependably guard us. Serious diseases can alter the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":133046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2224],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1871],"class_list":["post-133044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cahnr"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-04 14:44:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/133046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133044"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=133044"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=133044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}