- Gene-edited dendritic cells target cardiac inflammation
- Approach shows promise in preclinical models without systemic immunosuppression
Researchers at Zhejiang University have developed a novel immune-cell–based therapy for heart failure, using engineered dendritic cells to suppress cardiac inflammation and promote tissue repair, according to a study published in Nature.
The study, led by teams at the university’s affiliated Second Hospital, introduces an intervention strategy based on immunosuppressive, cardiac-targeting dendritic cells (iCDCs).
iCDC is a genetically engineered cell population designed to home to injured myocardium and modulate maladaptive immune responses, a key but insufficiently addressed driver of heart failure progression.
Heart failure affects more than 64 million people globally, according to the World Health Organization, and severe cases still carry a five-year mortality rate approaching 50% despite standard therapies, underscoring the need for new mechanistic approaches.
The researchers focused on dendritic cells, central regulators of immune activation and tolerance, and used gene-editing techniques to reprogram them with two core features: myocardial homing capability and stable expression of immunoregulatory factors.
This allows the engineered cells to localize to damaged cardiac tissue and dampen chronic inflammation that contributes to cardiomyocyte injury and adverse remodeling.
In preclinical studies, including murine disease models and non-human primate models of myocardial infarction, the therapy significantly reduced cardiac fibrosis, improved myocardial perfusion and enhanced cardiac contractile function.
Notably, the localized immune modulation avoided the infection risks typically associated with systemic immunosuppression.
The research was conducted by teams led by Professors Hu Xinyang and Xu Yang, who said efforts are now focused on scaling up clinical-grade manufacturing of engineered dendritic cells to advance toward human trials.
If successfully translated, the approach could represent a new class of precision immunotherapy for heart failure, targeting inflammatory pathways while preserving systemic immune function—an area of growing interest in cardiovascular medicine.
