Electricity reprograms immune cells to speed up the healing process

This discovery indicates a promising new therapeutic strategy, and the research team continues to study the mechanisms behind this effect.

What macrophages do

Macrophages are white blood cells that play a central role in defending the body. They move throughout the tissue searching for harmful microbes and viruses, removing damaged or dead cells, and activating other parts of the immune system when needed.

However, when macrophages overreact, they can lead to excessive inflammation that damages tissues rather than repairs them. This rampant inflammation is a hallmark of many diseases, making macrophage regulation a key target for improving recovery and reducing chronic conditions.

Testing the effect of electricity on immune cells

In the new study published in Cell Reports Physical SciencesTrinity researchers worked with macrophages taken from healthy blood donors through the Irish Blood Transfusion Board at St James’s Hospital. The team placed the cells in a specialized bioreactor that allowed them to apply controlled electrical stimulation and monitor biological effects.

The results were amazing. Electrical stimulation shifted macrophages toward an anti-inflammatory state that promoted tissue repair. Scientists observed decreased activity in markers of inflammation, increased expression of genes responsible for the formation of new blood vessels (essential for tissue growth), and enhanced recruitment of stem cells to wounds (another vital component of the healing process).

Reduce inflammation and improve the repair process

“We have known for a very long time that the immune system is essential for repairing damage in our bodies and that macrophages play a key role in fighting infection and directing tissue repair,” said Dr Sinead O’Rourke, Research Fellow at Trinity School of Biochemistry and Immunology and first author of the study.

“As a result, many scientists are exploring ways to reprogram macrophages to encourage faster and more effective healing in disease and limit unwanted side effects that come with highly aggressive inflammation. While there is growing evidence that electrical stimulation may help control how different cells behave during wound healing, very little was known about how it affects human macrophages prior to this work.”

A promising path for future treatments

“We’re really excited about the results. Not only does this study show for the first time that electrical stimulation can switch human macrophages to suppress inflammation, we also demonstrated increased ability of macrophages to repair tissue, supporting electrical stimulation as an exciting new treatment to enhance the body’s repair processes in a wide range of different injury and disease conditions.”

The research team, led by Professor Aisling Dunne (School of Biochemistry and Immunology) and Michael Monaghan (School of Engineering), underscored the potential of this approach. Because the study used human blood cells, the results are directly relevant to clinical applications. Electrical stimulation is also relatively safe and easy to perform compared to many therapeutic methods, making it an attractive candidate for a variety of medical uses.

Next steps and expanding possibilities

Professor Monaghan added: “Among the future steps are to explore more advanced electrical stimulation systems to generate more precise and long-lasting effects on inflammatory cells and to explore new materials and methods for delivering electrical fields. This concept has led to compelling effects in vitro and has huge potential in a wide range of inflammatory diseases.”

This research represents an important step toward developing electricity-based treatments that could one day help the body repair itself more effectively and safely.