AsianScientist (Nov. 4, 2016) – Scientists in Japan have identified a molecule that stops the immune system from mistakenly reacting with the body’s own cells. The work, which was published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, could improve our ability to treat systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
The immune system features cells that can recognize potentially damaging agents, such as toxins, cancerous cells, and bacteria and viruses. However, this recognition can sometimes go awry, leading the immune system to attack healthy cells or tissues, which can have devastating results. Such conditions are known as autoimmune diseases, which include lupus, a disease in which various organs are damaged by inflammation. SLE affects various organs including the kidneys, brain, skin, heart and lungs, and for which there is no cure.
In this study, researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) and their colleagues studied a molecule expressed on immune cells that prevents these immune cells from reacting with the body and causing SLE, and explained the mechanism behind its action, raising hopes for new treatments of this disease.
They showed that a molecule called CD72 prevents a certain type of immune cell from mistakenly reacting with a protein complex within the body. The team confirmed this by analyzing immune responses in cells in which CD72 had been removed, and by showing that variants of CD72 differed in their potency of preventing the development of SLE.
“We now know that CD72 prevents immune responses which lead to SLE without affecting responses to microbes and cancer cells,” corresponding author Dr. Takeshi Tsubata of TMDU said.
The article can be found at: Akatsu et al. (2016) CD72 Negatively Regulates B Lymphocyte Responses to the Lupus-Related Endogenous Toll-Like Receptor 7 Ligand Sm/RNP.
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Source: Tokyo Medical and Dental University; Photo: Pixabay.
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