Generation of Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients

TORRES ANDY; VEGA FABIAN; JUAN PABLO MACKERN OBERTI; P VIVIANI; JAIME PEREYRA; KALERGIS, ALEXIS; LLANOS, CAROLINA

Congreso; 11th Congress of the Latin American Association of Immunology; 2015

Introduction: Tolerogenic dendritic cells (TolDCs) are a promising strategy for several autoimmune diseases based on their specific suppressive effect on autoreactive T cells that target self-tissue damage. Specific and more effective therapies are needed for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) due to side-effects associated to available therapeutic strategies. Unfortunately, a predominant auto-antigen that drives the autoimmune response has not been identified yet, which has hampered the development of specific therapies. However, large evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies have linked SLE to apoptotic cells, suggesting that autoantibodies are directed to nuclear components contained in these cells. Therefore, in this study we propose to use apoptotic cells as a source of autoantigens, to specifically target TolDCs generated from SLE using NF-κB inhibitors to autoreactive lymphocytes.