Esteban Veiga Chacón

We study how to modify the immune response using bacteria. We have discovered that CD4+ T cells contributes to the early immune response capturing bacteria by transfagocytosis. Surprisingly, the transfagocytic CD4+ T cells destroy bacteria and become hyperinflammatory. Moreover, bacteria exposure “trains” conventional CD4+ T cells (bacT), which contrary to the role separation dogma in immunology, became potent antigen presenting cells able to: (1) cross-present antigens from captured bacteria, activating naïve CD8+ T cells that became effective cytotoxic cells and (2) generate CD8+ T cell central memory (with very low levels of PD-1), the population more resistant to tumor-induced exhaustion. These effects, prompted us to hypothesized whether bacT cells could be useful in antitumor therapies. This hypothesis is being tested in proof-of-concept models of tumors.
Note that we have protected by a patent the use of bacT cells in cancer immunotherapies and this patent has been extended to USA, Canada, EU and Australia.
See a explanation of the technology (in Spanish): https://youtu.be/t7fGJupPEvI