IMMUNOLOGY2026™ Conference Recordings For Attendees-Rewriting Autoimmunity: New Immunologic Insights Transforming T1D Therapy Development, Sponsored by Breakthrough T1D-4

Rewriting Autoimmunity: New Immunologic Insights Transforming T1D Therapy Development, Sponsored by Breakthrough T1D-4

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Video Summary

The speaker described engineering human Tregs to improve treatment for type 1 diabetes. Current polyclonal Treg therapies are safe but not very effective, partly due to poor specificity and Treg defects. Her lab uses two retroviral transductions to create Tregs expressing Helios and FOXP3, which previously delayed GVHD in mice. In new in vitro assays with islet-specific CTLs, both natural and engineered Tregs reduced inflammatory cytokines in a contact-dependent manner. Early data suggest engineered Tregs may be more stable under IL-12–driven inflammation, maintaining or increasing FOXP3 and Helios expression. The team is now refining mechanisms and moving toward diabetic models.

Meta Tag

Date April 16, 2026 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM

Room 151

Session Rewriting Autoimmunity: New Immunologic Insights Transforming T1D Therapy Development

Speaker Elly Puckett

Track Basic Autoimmunity (BA)

Year 2026

Keywords

human Tregs

type 1 diabetes

FOXP3

Helios

islet-specific CTLs

April 16, 2026 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM

151

Rewriting Autoimmunity: New Immunologic Insights Transforming T1D Therapy Development

Elly Puckett

Basic Autoimmunity (BA)

2026