Discovery of T-cell 'traffic control' boosts new drug promise ( gnaling. They slow the flood of T cells...)

Discovery of T-cell 'traffic control' boosts new drug promise

gnaling. They slow the flood of T cells "called into" lymph nodes by chemokines.

The scientists made a second discovery about T cell movement: S1P, like chemokines, can also act as a chemotactic attractant to T cells. Once T cells enter lymph nodes -- the sites where they encounter antigens for microbes and other infectious agents -- they sense S1P in the outflowing blood and so migrate into the blood and onto tissues where they are needed to fight infection.

In a key experiment, Goetzl's and Rosen's labs showed that by chemically displacing S1P, its natural braking effect is released, stimulating T cell traffic into lymph nodes. Because this also blocks S1P's chemotactic influence, migration of T cells out of the lymph nodes is greatly reduced. T cells are essentially sequestered in the nodes. Such an effect would prevent T cells from swamping newly transplanted organs or launching a harmful autoimmune reaction, the scientists suggest in the paper.

They think this mechanism underlies the promising clinical trial results of a new drug against multiple sclerosis (MS) recently reported by other researchers. That study showed that the experimental drug, FTY720, significantly reduced the destructive autoimmune process in patients with MS, a debilitating disease in which the body's T cells attack the myelin coating of nerve cells and disrupt their function. Neither Goetzl nor Rosen is involved in the on-going clinical trials of the new drugs and neither has financial ties to the companies that manufacture them.

Controlling this process with drugs offers "enormous potential" against devastating immune reactions, Goetzl says.

"Transplanting organs or even cells, such as insulin-producing Beta cells, into a patient triggers immune reactions that reject the transplant, but a drug such as FTY720 controls S1P function and slows the rush of T cells to the transplantation site without blocking normal immune response against bacteria and ot
'"/>

Source:University of California - San Francisco

Page: 1 2 3 4
Related biology news :

1. Fundamental Finding Yields Insight into Stem Cells, Cancer; Opens Door to Drug Discovery
2. Discovery of key proteins shape could lead to improved bacterial pneumonia vaccine
3. UCSD Discovery Shows How Embryonic Stem Cells Perform Quality Control Inspections
4. Discovery Could Lead To Novel Approaches In HIV Treatment
5. Discovery Promises Simpler Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease
6. Discovery may lead to better Candidiasis drug
7. Protein Discovery Could Unlock The Secret To Better TB Treatment
8. Discovery clarifies role of peptide in biological clock
9. Eliminate Data Analysis Bottlenecks in Drug Discovery
10. Discovery of New Dopamine Action May Yield Alternative Psychiatric Drugs
11. Discovery could be key to bioterrorism defense

Post Your Comments:

( gnaling. They slow the flood of T cells...)Discovery of T-cell 'traffic control' boosts new drug promise