 |
|
NIH scientists find a novel mechanism that controls the development of autoimmunity
August 14, 2008Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found a mechanism in the immune systems of mice that can lead to the development of autoimmune disease when turned off. The findings shed light on the processes that lead to the development of autoimmunity and could also have implications for the development of drugs to increase the immune response in diseases such as cancer and HIV. The study paper appears online today in the journal Nature.
The scientists from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), both part of the NIH, studied immune system T cells - specifically the helper T cell, an immune system component that helps other cells fight infection. They focused on the protein furin, an enzyme that plays an important role in the functioning of T cells.
Scientists have been limited in their ability to study the protein furin, because other enzymes can perform some of the same functions. Also, furin is essential to life, so scientists have been unable to create a mouse without furin that lives past the embryo stage of development. Since the NIH scientists were unable to see what a mouse without furin would look like, they collaborated with Belgium scientists to create a mouse without furin only in T cells. What they discovered was that mice without furin in these cells developed systemic autoimmune disease. This means that the immune systems of the mice attacked their own cells and tissues throughout their bodies.
"We already know that furin seems to have roles in a variety of human diseases, such as cancer, cystic fibrosis and infectious diseases," says lead author Marko Pesu, Ph.D., in the NIAMS' Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch. "These findings show that having no furin in certain immune system cells can increase the immune response and lead to autoimmune disease in mice."
The researchers found that deleting furin in helper T cells affected the functioning of two types of T cells, regulatory and effector T cells. The former cells, also called Tregs, promote immune tolerance to the body's own cells and tissues. Upon further examination, the researchers found that mice lacking furin in Tregs had lower levels of a specific protein, TGF-ß1, which is produced by these cells and is important for their ability to preserve immune tolerance. However, the researchers noted that effector T cells also produce TGF-ß1. They found that furin is also needed for TGF-ß1 production by effector T cells and that the absence of furin in effectors makes these cells more aggressive in causing autoimmune disease and tissue damage.
"Inhibiting furin has been thought to reduce growth of malignant cells or to block infections by preventing essential activation of a pathogen," says study author and NIAMS' Scientific Director John J. O'Shea, M.D., chief of the NIAMS' Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch. "However, these results suggest that the development of drug interventions could have an unexpected side effect of increasing the risk of developing autoimmune disease."
NIH/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
"We already know that furin seems to have roles in a variety of human diseases, such as cancer, cystic fibrosis and infectious diseases," says lead author Marko Pesu, Ph.D., in the NIAMS' Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch. "These findings show that having no furin in certain immune system cells can increase the immune response and lead to autoimmune disease in mice."
The researchers found that deleting furin in helper T cells affected the functioning of two types of T cells, regulatory and effector T cells. The former cells, also called Tregs, promote immune tolerance to the body's own cells and tissues. Upon further examination, the researchers found that mice lacking furin in Tregs had lower levels of a specific protein, TGF-ß1, which is produced by these cells and is important for their ability to preserve immune tolerance. However, the researchers noted that effector T cells also produce TGF-ß1. They found that furin is also needed for TGF-ß1 production by effector T cells and that the absence of furin in effectors makes these cells more aggressive in causing autoimmune disease and tissue damage.
"Inhibiting furin has been thought to reduce growth of malignant cells or to block infections by preventing essential activation of a pathogen," says study author and NIAMS' Scientific Director John J. O'Shea, M.D., chief of the NIAMS' Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch. "However, these results suggest that the development of drug interventions could have an unexpected side effect of increasing the risk of developing autoimmune disease."
NIH/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Autoimmune Disease Current Events and Autoimmune Disease News RSSResearcher tricks immune system in diabetic mice
The body's immune system hates strangers. When its security patrol spots a foreign cell, it annihilates it.
Lung airway cells activate vitamin D and increase immune response
Vitamin D is essential to good health but needs to be activated to function properly in the human body. Until recently, this activation was thought to happen primarily in the kidneys, but a new University of Iowa study finds that the activation step can also occur in lung airway cells.
Type-1 diabetes not so much bad genes as good genes behaving badly, Stanford research shows
Investigators combing the genome in the hope of finding genetic variants responsible for triggering early-onset diabetes may be looking in the wrong place, new research at the Stanford University School of Medicine suggests.
Toxic Bile Damages the Liver
Researchers at the Heidelberg University Hospital have discovered a new genetic disease that can lead to severe liver damage. Because a protective component of the bile is missing, the liver cells are exposed to the toxic components of the bile, resulting in cirrhosis of liver, a transformation of liver cells into connective tissue with a gradual loss of liver function.
A reversal of thinking: How women with lupus can increase chance for healthy pregnancies
In the not so distant past, women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an autoimmune disease, were advised not to have children, and if they became pregnant, to have therapeutic abortions to prevent severe flares of their lupus.
First international guidelines for treatment of psoriatic arthritis
Rheumatologists, dermatologists, and patient advocates have come together to publish the first-ever international guidelines for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis, a disease that mainly affects people who have psoriasis but also some people without it.
Green tea may delay onset of type 1 diabetes
A powerful antioxidant in green tea may prevent or delay the onset of type 1 diabetes, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.
New hope for multiple sclerosis sufferers
A drug which was developed in Cambridge and initially designed to treat a form of leukaemia has also proven effective against combating the debilitating neurological disease multiple sclerosis (MS).
New mechanism for cardiac arrhythmia discovered
It has long been thought that virus infections can cause cardiac arrhythmia. But why has not been understood. Ulrike Lisewski, Dr. Yu Shi, Michael Radke and Professor Michael Gotthardt of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have now discovered the molecular mechanism.
Survival instincts propel 'difficult patient' to insist on quality care
Michelle Mayer had to become a "difficult patient" before she could get her physicians to accurately diagnose the disease that was destroying her health.
More Autoimmune Disease Current Events and Autoimmune Disease News Articles
 | Living Well with Autoimmune Disease: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know by Mary J. Shomon A complete guide to understanding the mysterious and often difficult-to-pinpoint disorders of the immune system--and finding the keys to diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. An estimated fifty million people suffer from symptoms including fatigue, joint pains, depression, or heart palpitations — signs that the immune system has turned on itself, causing conditions such as thyroid disease,... |
 | Women, Work, and Autoimmune Disease: Keep Working, Girlfriend! by Rosalind Joffe, Joan Friedlander When a woman receives a life-changing diagnosis of a serious, chronic illness, her first instinct may be to quit the workforce. This may bring a strong sense of relief initially, but as her disease becomes manageable, work is again desirable. Women, Work, and Autoimmune Disease urges women so affected to stay employed in order to preserve their independence and sense of self. Filled with tips,... |
 | The Autoimmune Epidemic: Bodies Gone Haywire in a World Out of Balance--and the Cutting-Edge Science that Promises Hope by Donna Jackson Nakazawa From the foreword by Dr. Douglas Kerr, Director, Johns Hopkins Transverse Myelitis Center "The Autoimmune Epidemic by Donna Jackson Nakazawa is an astounding book....It is the kind of book that will rivet you and scare you. It will make you angry. It will amaze you with the courage of some of the people described in the book...The Autoimmune Epidemic is every bit as compelling as Upton Sinclair's... |
 | What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Autoimmune Disorders: The Revolutionary, Drug-Free Treatments for Thyroid Disease, Lupus, MS, IBD, Chronic Fatigue; Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Other Diseases by Stephen B. Edelson, Deborah Mitchell Autoimmune disorders are not well understood and can be difficult to treat. The result is that there are millions of people with autoimmune diseases looking for answers, relief and healing, and not finding them. The majority of doctors treating autoimmunity simply attack the symptoms and treat each disorder separately, but Dr Edelson believes all autoimmune disorders are similar at their core and... |
 | Women and Autoimmune Disease: The Mysterious Ways Your Body Betrays Itself by Robert G. Lahita, Ina L. Yalof A cutting-edge examination of the mysterious world of autoimmune disease—and the new discoveries made daily that may save women's lives Autoimmune diseases—including chronic fatigue syndrome, vasculitis, juvenile diabetes, alopecia, Graves' disease, Sjogren's syndrome, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis—are among the most devastating conditions afflicting women today and... |
 | The Autoimmune Diseases, Fourth Edition Since publication of the Third Edition in 1998, the understanding of the immune mechanisms underlying autoimmunity and autoimmune disease has significantly deepened and broadened. This Fourth Edition incorporates new material and combines common themes underlying inductive and effector mechanisms and therapies that relate generally to the autoimmune disorders. It discusses the biological basis of... |
 | The Autoimmune Connection by Rita Baron-Faust, Jill P. Buyon As featured in the New York Times and recommended by the National Women's Health Resource Center and the Society for Women's Health Research, The Autoimmune Connection discusses the links between autoimmune diseases and offers up-to-date information on diagnosis, treatments, and risks for women with one or more autoimmune disease, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or Crohn's... |
 | Diagnostic Criteria in Autoimmune Diseases According to the Autoimmune Diseases Coordinating Committee (ADCC), between 14.7 and 23.5 million people in the USA – up to eight percent of the population are affected by autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases are a family of more than 100 chronic, and often disabling, illnesses that develop when underlying defects in the immune system lead the body to attack its own organs, tissues, and... |
 | Bible Cure for Autoimmune Disorders (Bible Cure (Siloam)) by Don Colbert |
 | Thriving With Your Autoimmune Disorder: A Woman's Mind-Body Guide by Simone Ravicz Ph.D. M.B.A. Women facing chronic pain and illness due to multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue, and other autoimmune disorders have a new place to look for encouragement. In this comprehensive and caring guide, Simone Ravicz presents a wide range of suggestions for not merely enduring illness but finding ways to thrive in spite of it. Ravicz herself suffers from autoimmune disorders. As... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |