Emerging Cellular Therapies: T Cells and Beyond

Dear Colleagues,

Cellular Therapies are fast becoming a viable option for the treatment of numerous diseases, due to the progress of technologies that enhance capabilities and reduce costs. They are typically used only when standard treatments have failed, since they are intensive in terms of skilled labour, reagents, and facilities; are often tailored or patient-specific; and, thus, remain expensive and limited in availability. This is in sharp contrast to off-the-shelf drugs. Therapies that have their basis in immune cells benefit from the potency of such cells, together with a mechanistic understanding of their often-complex action. Immunologists have always recognized the key role of T cells in health and disease. Their importance clinically is highlighted when they are absent or dysfunctional, such as in certain primary (genetic) or secondary (induced) immunodeficiencies, where viral infections predominate. Less obvious is their beneficial role as effector T cells in anti-cancer immunity, and their role as regulatory T cells in ameliorating inflammatory immune responses when not needed, such as in autoimmunity, transplantation, cancer therapy (graft vs host with haematopoietic stem cells), and allergy. Current T cell therapies involve manipulation of T cells in all these contexts, mainly ex-vivo, using a range of technological approaches, and are at various stages of clinical development. This Special Issue of Cells aims to highlight these approaches and applications, explain their technical and mechanistic bases, and update their current status and efficacy. Future paths that such “Cell Therapies” will take shall also be discussed.

Prof. Dr. Stephen Todryk
Dr. Agnieszka Jozwik
Dr. Julian de Havilland
Dr. Joanna Hester
Guest Editors

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