Y. scientists contribute to immune discovery

[Guest guest]

Y. scientists contribute to immune discovery

By Lois M.

Deseret Morning News

Friday, November 12, 2004

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595104911,00.html

Brigham Young University scientists are on an international team that

has figured out how the body regulates its immune response.

That may unlock doors to prevent or treat autoimmune illnesses like lupus,

multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. And it could help explain

how the body rallies to fight invaders like viruses, bacteria and even

cancer.

The discovery was being published today in Science Express, the online

version of the journal Science, and will later appear in the print edition

of the journal. Their research found the "key" that controls natural

killer T cells, "the regulatory cells in the immune system that help control

the type of immune responses it can generate" such as inflammation, said

B. Savage, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at BYU. That response

is also responsible for multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus

and other autoimmune-generated illnesses.

The natural killer T cells recently debuted on the world stage as key

immune system regulators. What this research adds is evidence of the identity

of the specific key antigen that signals the immune response. And this

antigen is different from most known antigens, which are typically small

pieces of protein. This one is a glycolipid, comprised of sugar and fatty

molecule.

While scientists knew an antigen turned on the natural killer T cells

because they could see what it did, Savage and his colleagues are the first

to identify it. That will allow them to study where the key is made,

what regulates it and how the responses are controlled, he said. They hope

to manipulate the natural killer T cells to treat disease. They also

plan to create an artificial form of the antigen to see if they can slow

down or speed up immune system response. The same antigen that "selects"

natural killer T cells for duty also has to be present for the natural

killer T cells to form, Savage said. Without it, they don't survive.

In autoimmune diseases, the body attacks itself, using inflammation.

It can result from lack of natural killer T cells, which are supposed to

moderate immune response to protect without damaging the body.

Savage believes people with autoimmune diseases may not have enough

of the antigen. By knowing what the natural antigen looks like, "we can

in the future design synthetic keys to switch" the response on and off,

he said. "We've already done this to some extent." Last year, Savage

and his colleagues published a paper in Science that hinted at what the

key antigen might be. Identifying it, he said, would be "the Holy Grail

for us."

Savage and two graduate students, Ning Yin and Ying Gao, are organic

chemists who made the artificial antigens for the research.

He said that many researchers all over the world have sought this antigen,

but teaming organic chemists with immunologists made the discovery possible.

He's hopeful that resulting treatments won't be too far down the road.

"A lot of the work's already been done. Things are moving forward pretty

rapidly. In terms of stimulating inflammatory response, there are already

things in clinical trials" against diseases like hepatitis. "For treatment

of autoimmunity, animal models are very encouraging."

Much natural killer T cell research is occurring worldwide because the

cells play such a strong role in immune system response. "They are an attractive

means of influencing immune responses," Savage said. "They work at the

headwaters all the way upstream. Instead of treating symptoms, they treat

effects."

Lead authors are Dapeng Zhou and Albert Bendelac at the University

of Chicago. Co-authors are the BYU team and researchers from the Scripps

Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Goteborg University

in Sweden, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of New Hampshire.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595104911,00.html

E-mail: lois@...

gateswill@... wrote:

In

a message dated 11/16/2004 12:22:26 PM Central Standard Time, low dose naltrexone

writes:

I

refer to Marina Mahathir’s article Ideology over science

BEFORE i COULD

GET INTERESTED IN THIS ARTICLE I;'D HAVE TO KNOW WHO MARINA MAHATHIR IS

AND WHERE THIS WAS PUBLISHED?THANX,DAPH

[Guest guest]

Thanks for sharing this. I think my 'glycolipid, comprised of sugar

and fatty molecule' has settled in my belly! lol

>

> > In a message dated 11/16/2004 12:22:26 PM Central Standard Time,

> > low dose naltrexone writes:

> >

> > I refer to Marina Mahathir’s article Ideology over

> > science

> >

> > BEFORE i COULD GET INTERESTED IN THIS ARTICLE I;'D HAVE TO KNOW WHO

> > MARINA MAHATHIR IS AND WHERE THIS WAS PUBLISHED?THANX,DAPH

[Guest guest]

For background on the mechanics:

The regulatory role of natural killer cells in multiple sclerosis

Brain, September 2004

http://brain.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/127/9/1917