Immunoregulatory artificial lymph nodes restore antigen-specific tolerance in advanced multiple sclerosis.

Artificial lymph nodes engineered with tolDCs induce durable antigen-specific tolerance and suppress disease in advanced multiple sclerosis models.

• Why it matters: Current tolDC therapies face challenges with poor homing and stability in inflamed lymph nodes, limiting their effectiveness in treating autoimmune diseases like MS.
• What they did: A 3D-printed, porous gelatin scaffold was developed to create a protected immune niche, optimize DC-T cell interactions, and promote regulatory T cell induction in EAE models.
• The result: Implantation of tol-aLN attenuated disease, induced antigen-specific T reg cells, suppressed inflammatory B cells, and restored immune homeostasis, demonstrating potential for MS therapy.