2 genes are important key to regulating immun...( NEW YORK (Dec. 28 2007) -- A researc...)

NEW YORK (Dec. 28, 2007) -- A research team at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City has identified two genes that may be crucial to the production of an immune system cytokine called interleukin-10 (IL-10).

The discovery fills in an important "missing link" in a biochemical pathway that's long been tied to disorders ranging from lupus and Type 1 diabetes, to cancer and AIDS.

"IL-10 production has to be kept in a delicate balance for health," explains study senior researcher Dr. Xiaojing Ma, Professor of Immunology and Microbiology in the Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Pediatrics at Weill Cornell. "Too much IL-10 can leave the body more vulnerable to killers such as viruses and cancer, and to certain antibody-driven autoimmune diseases such as lupus, while too little can lead to run-away inflammatory pathology. Therefore, a better understanding of IL-10 regulation moves us closer to understanding these illnesses and -- potentially -- how to better treat them," he says.

The findings are reported in this month's issue of Immunity (vol. 27).

Dr. Jianguo Liu, of Weill Cornell, and Dr. Elaine Y. Chung, formerly of Weill Cornell and now a post-doc at the University of Pennsylvania, were co-lead researchers on the study.

Every second, millions of the body's cells undergo naturally programmed cell death -- a process called apoptosis. In healthy individuals, these dying or dead cells are spotted and then quickly ingested and removed by immune system "scavenger" cells such as macrophages.

However, to prevent this type of clean-up from triggering a wider immune response, macrophages express the IL-10 cytokine in the presence of apoptotic cells.

IL-10 suppresses the activity of immune system T-cells that might otherwise run amuck, Dr. Ma explains.

"That can be a good thing, of course," he says. "But on the other hand, when immune system T-cell activity is weakened too muc
'/>"/>