Scientists unlocking 'black box immune system'

Treatments for diseases such as type one diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis have moved a step closer after scientists said they were succeeding in unravelling the "black box" of the human immune system.

Researchers in the US claim to have made good progress in understanding the genes that regulate a group of white blood cells known as T cells, which are described as being the body's "frontline" defence.

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They say that increased knowledge of the genetic basis for this regulation could lead to treatments for autoimmune diseases, rather than just for their symptoms.

Autoimmune diseases, which along with type one diabetes include lupus and Crohn's disease, occur when an immune system is unable to properly regulate itself, resulting in T cells attacking the body's own tissue.

And revealing their findings in journal Nature, scientists from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and the Dana-Farber Institute say that they have discovered 30 separate genes directly involved in the regulation of T cells.

Richard Young, professor of biology at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, explained that this discovery could "shorten the path to new therapies for autoimmune disease".


By using DNA micro-array technology scientists were able to scan the entire genome of T cells, which has provided them with an "initial map" of the cells' circuitry.

It is this map that they hope will enable them to understand how a healthy immune system can be maintained.

Professor Young added: "Autoimmune diseases take a tremendous toll on human health, but on a strictly molecular level, autoimmunity is a black box.


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