New York Aug 3 (IANS) In a discovery that could improve treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer researchers have found a way to turn pro-inflammatory cells that boost the immune system into anti-inflammatory cells that suppress it and vice versa.
When the immune system is imbalanced either due to overly-active cells or cells that suppress its function it causes a wide range of diseases from psoriasis to cancer.
By manipulating the function of certain immune cells called T cells researchers could help restore the system s balance and create new treatments to target these diseases.
The new method to reprogramme specific T cells revealed by scientists at Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco is a step in that direction.
"Our findings could have a significant impact on the treatment of autoimmune diseases as well as on stem cell and immuno-oncology therapies " said Gladstone Senior Investigator Sheng Ding who is also a professor at the University of California San Francisco.
The researchers studied two types of cells called effector T cells which activate the immune system to defend our body against different pathogens and regulatory T cells which help control the immune system and prevent it from attacking healthy parts of its environment.
By drawing on their expertise in drug discovery Ding s team identified a small-molecule drug that can successfully reprogramme effector T cells into regulatory T cells.
The study published in the journal Nature describes in detail a metabolic mechanism that helps convert one cell type into another.
This new approach to reprogram T cells could have several medical applications.
For instance in autoimmune disease effector T cells are overly activated and cause damage to body.
Converting these cells into regulatory T cells could help reduce the hyperactivity and return balance to the immune system thus treating the root of the disease.
"Our work could also contribute to ongoing efforts in immuno-oncology and the treatment of cancer " explained Tao Xu postdoctoral scholar in Ding s laboratory and first author of the study.
"This type of therapy doesn t target the cancer directly but rather works on activating the immune system so it can recognise cancer cells and attack them " Xu added.
Many cancers take control of regulatory T cells to suppress the immune system creating an environment where tumours can grow without being detected.
In such cases the team s findings could be used to transform regulatory T cells into effector T cells to strengthen the immune system so it can better recognise and destroy cancer cells.
--IANS
gb/vt
