NEW DELHI, India — Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay have developed a simpler and more efficient method to recover immune cells grown in laboratories for use in T cell–based cancer therapies, a breakthrough that could improve the effectiveness of advanced treatments such as CAR T-cell therapy.
In immunotherapies like CAR T-cell treatment, T cells are extracted from a patient’s blood, genetically modified and expanded in the laboratory, and then infused back into the patient to help the immune system fight cancer. A critical step in this process is retrieving the lab-grown cells in a way that keeps them alive and functional.
“Cell recovery sounds simple on paper, but in practice it turns out to be one of the biggest challenges,” said Prof. Prakriti Tayalia from IIT Bombay’s Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering. “Without enough healthy cells, you cannot test them properly or use them for therapy.”
To better replicate the body’s natural environment, Tayalia’s team worked with electrospun scaffolds — thin, mat-like structures made of extremely fine fibers that resemble a dense fishing net. These scaffolds provide a three-dimensional structure that supports cell growth.
The researchers grew Jurkat T cells, a human laboratory cell line commonly used to study T-cell biology and cancer, inside electrospun scaffolds made from polycaprolactone. Microscopic observations showed that the cells actively migrated into the scaffold and became tightly lodged between the fibers.
The study found that the method used to retrieve the cells had a major impact on their survival. When the researchers used trypsin, a commonly used enzyme, a significant number of cells died during recovery.
By contrast, cells recovered using accutase, a milder enzyme, survived in much higher numbers and behaved more like healthy T cells. These cells formed clusters — a key step before cell division — and continued to grow well after being removed from the scaffold.
“Harsh treatments to cells, using enzymes such as trypsin, can damage key surface proteins needed for immune signaling and activation, reducing the cell’s therapeutic usefulness,” Tayalia said. “Accutase appears mild enough to avoid this problem.”
The findings, published in the journal Biomaterials Science, suggest that electrospun scaffolds combined with gentler recovery methods could improve how immune cells are prepared for therapies such as CAR T-cell treatment.
“If we want these advanced therapies to reach patients, every step matters,” Tayalia said. “How we grow cells and how we retrieve them can make a real difference.” (Source: IANS)
