Autoimmune Diseases tagged posts

A newly discovered molecular mechanism could explain some autoimmune diseases. Credit: Image courtesy of Osaka University

While the immune system is crucial for protecting the body from infection and disease, prolonged activation can damage healthy tissue. After its activation, the immune system is shut off by regulatory T cells (Treg cells). Understanding the development of Treg cells is thought to be critical for combating autoimmune diseases. “The development of Treg cells in the thymus depends on super-enhancer establishment,” explains IFReC Professor Shimon Sakaguchi.

This super-enhancer establishment permits the expression of genes specific for Treg cell development...

Immune molecule IL-1beta (the “hot spots” shown here) senses bacterial infections. Credit: UC San Diego Health

Patient data reveals crucial role IL-1beta in sensing streptococcal infections. Rheumatoid arthritis patients taking medications that inhibit interleukin-1beta, a molecule that stimulates the immune system, are 300 times more likely to experience invasive Group A Streptococcal infections than patients not on the drug, according to University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers. Their study also uncovers a critical new role for IL-1beta as the body’s independent early warning system for bacterial infections.

“The more we know about each step in the body’s immune response to bacterial infections, the better equipped we are to design more personalized, targeted the...

Josh Zimmerman, Ph.D., (right) and Todd McDevitt, Ph.D., discovered a biomaterials hack that can boost cells’ ability to combat inflammation and potentially treat autoimmune diseases. Credit: Elisabeth Fall

A biomaterials hack can boost cells’ ability to combat inflammation and potentially treat autoimmune diseases. With a trick of engineering, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes improved a potential weapon against inflammation and autoimmune disorders. Their work could one day benefit patients who suffer from IBD or organ transplant rejection.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) reside in bone marrow and have been found to secrete anti-inflammatory proteins that help regulate the immune system...

The research may strengthen researchers’ abilities to better predict a child’s risk for associated autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune diseases, eg type 1 diabetes, Crohn’s disease and juvenile idiopathic arthritis, collectively affect 1 in 12 persons in the Western hemisphere. They represent a significant cause of chronic disability.

“The results from this study enable us to better understand the genetic component of these diseases and how they are genetically related to each other, thereby explaining why different autoimmune disorders often run in the same family,” said Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D.

The research encompassed 9 pediatric-onset autoimmune diseases (pAIDs): type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, common variable immunodeficiency, systemic lupus eryth...