Anyone with an autoimmune condition knows that even after diagnosis, there is a long road ahead. Treatments exist, but many target symptoms rather than root causes, and noone in this field talks about “cures”. Recent research on T cells may have moved us one step closer….
For some autoimmune conditions, like MS, Type 1 diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease, the environments in which these autoreactive processes prosper have high amounts of a particular protein called IL-1b. This protein is a signal for immune cells to engage.
Scientists believed that this protein was produced by complexes in the innate immune system. Drugs were developed that targeted this path to IL-1b production. BUT, recent research by Chandrashekhar Pasare at the Cinncinati Children’s Medical Center found another source for IL-1b: T cells. Not only that, but he found that IL-1b was produced in his experimental mice in the absence of infection.
Importantly, these findings show that drugs that target innate immune cells to cut down on IL-1b production may be less effective, since autoreactive T cells are also producing this proinflammatory protein. These insights could change drug targets and ultimately the effectiveness of treatments aimed at these common diseases.
Look here for the paper published in Nature Immunology, and here for details about the paper.
Feb 2020