New discovery about the immune system

A mechanism that regulates the immune system that can cause summer flu and other allergies has recently been discovered by scientists. They hope to find therapies to help treat allergies by blocking this mechanism.

New research has demonstrated that a gene called GATA-3 can block the production of T cells in the immune system by inhibiting another gene - the FOXP3 gene, when new T cells are also stopped. export.

Scientists at Imperial College London, the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research in Davos - Switzerland and other international institutions hope they can apply therapies that prevent the FOXP3 gene from being blocked. At that time, T regulating cells will work normally.T cells play a key role in repelling signs of allergies in healthy people because they maintain monitoring of other cells, blocking the type of cells that support Th2 allergy and preventing the immune system. Excessive operation .

(Photo: Telegraph.co.uk) For people with allergies, certain types of immune system cells, especially Th2 cells, can be mistakenly considered an allergen (pollen term) is dangerous. So every time they come across this agent, those cells will stimulate the production of antibodies against the triggers of an allergic reaction.

Dr Carsten Schmidt-Weber, head of the research team at the National Heart Institute at Imperial College London, said: 'Research will help us understand how healthy people can tolerate agents. cause allergies and what we need to do to bring that ability into the immune system of an allergic person. We hope to help sensitive patients who do not suffer from single pain due to allergies to multiple agents'. They reached a conclusion by analyzing the gene involved in regulating T cells and their effects. To confirm the results, the researchers used experimental mice implanted with the GATA-3 gene in T cells. The experiment showed that the production of T regulatory cells was stalled.

Dr. Schmidt-Weber and his colleagues, Professor Stephen Durham, of the Imperial National Institute of Cardiology at Imperial University, hope this finding will help find new treatments that are more effective for hay fever. Other allergies associated with immunotherapy. From this promise promising prevention of these diseases spread into epidemics.

The study was published in PloS Biology, December 2007. Organized study of Swiss National Science Foundation, Ehmann Foundation Chur, Saurer Foundation Zurich and Swiss Life Zuric funded.