Targeting Interleukin 17 and Senescent Cells for Treatment of the Foreign Body Response

Unmet Need
13 million medical devices are implanted annually in the United States. Synthetic biomaterials are the building blocks of these implanted devices. Although biomaterials are selected for durability and minimal host immune response, all implanted biomaterials induce the foreign body response (FBR) to some degree, which creates a capsule of fibrous tissue surrounding the implant and can cause device failure. Implantation of biomaterials or clinical devices uniquely impacts immune memory and the systemic immune response, the clinical effects of which have yet to be elucidated.
 
Technology Overview
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have demonstrated that interleukin 17a (IL-17) drives the fibrotic process in response to synthetic implants. They have shown that the interplay between Th17 T cells and senescent cells are responsible for the FBR and have established immune-stromal interactions as a potential therapeutic target.
 
Stage of Development
The technology is in the discovery stage. The inventors have profiled immune cells from tissues taken from human patients undergoing breast implant exchange surgery and have verified the profiling results in vivo using mouse implantation studies.
 
Publications
Chung, et al. bioRxiv 2019
 

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