Researchers Discover New Cell That Remembers Allergies

Researchers with McMaster University and Denmark-based pharmaceutical company ALK-Abello A/S have made a groundbreaking discovery: a new cell that remembers allergies.

The discovery gives scientists and researchers a new target in treating allergies and could lead to new therapeutics.

“We’ve discovered a type of memory B cell that had unique characteristics and a unique gene signature that has not been described before,” says Josh Koenig co-lead of the study.

“We found that allergic people had this memory B cell against their allergen, but non-allergic people had very few, if any.”

B cells are a type of immune cell that makes antibodies. These cells help fight off infections but can also cause allergies.

“Let’s say you’re allergic to peanuts. Your immune system, because of MBC2, remembers that you’re allergic to peanuts, and when you encounter them again, it creates more of the antibodies that make you allergic,” Koenig says.

To come to this discovery, researchers created tetramers — a type of fluorescent molecule — out of allergens like Birch pollen and peanuts to locate difficult-to-find memory B cells.

Researchers further leveraged samples from ALK clinical trials with tablet sublingual immunotherapy which allows for sequencing large amounts of IgE producing B cells.

Using cutting-edge technology such as single cell transcriptomics and deep sequencing of antibody gene repertoires on clinical trial samples, they were able to make direct connections between MBC2 and IgE, the type of antibody that triggers the allergic reaction.

This provided necessary context ultimately revealing the MBC2 as the home of allergy.

The discovery of MBC2 gives scientists and researchers a new target in treating allergies and could lead to new therapeutics.

“The discovery really pinpoints two potential therapeutic approaches we might be able to take,” says Kelly Bruton, who co-led the research alongside Koenig when she was a PhD student at McMaster.

“The first is targeting those MBC2s and eliminating them from an allergic person. The other option could involve changing their function and have them do something that’s not going to be ultimately harmful when the individual is exposed to the allergen.”

Further work will be needed to better understand and ultimately create therapeutics, but the discovery of MBC2s offers new hope for those affected by food allergies.

Sources:

Joshua F. E. Koenig, Niels Peter H. Knudsen, Allyssa Phelps, Kelly Bruton, Ilka Hoof, Gitte Lund, Danielle Della Libera, Anders Lund, Lars Harder Christensen, David R. Glass, Tina D. Walker, Allison Fang, Susan Waserman, Manel Jordana, Peter S. Andersen. Type 2–polarized memory B cells hold allergen-specific IgE memory. Science Translational Medicine, 2024; 16 (733) DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adi0944

Materials provided by McMaster University. Original written by Adam Ward. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

McMaster University. “Researchers discover new cell that remembers allergies.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 February 2024. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240207195046.htm>.

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