Found: molecular pathway to switch off auto-immune disease

A University of Queensland team at the Princess Alexandra Hospital is believed to be the first in the world to find a mechanism to turn off an auto-immune disease, once it has started.

The work provides a possible basis for a vaccine against auto-immune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile diabetes, where the body's immune system inappropriately attacks healthy cells.

The work, which is still at the preliminary stages, also has implications for treating allergic diseases such as asthma, and making allografts safer. While a commercially available vaccine is several years away and with human clinical trials yet to be held, a cure is not yet available. However, the UQ team believes it is making excellent progress.

The team has found a molecular control mechanism to re-educate the immune system. "It's not a new idea to re-educate the immune system," said academic rheumatologist and Centre Deputy-Director Associate Professor Ranjeny Thomas.

"What's different is that this is the first time it has been possible to suppress an existing response once the immune system has started down a deleterious pathway."

Dr Thomas and her team made the discovery while working on dendritic cells, which are potent, antigen-presenting cells with the unique capacity to prime the immune response. She said many research groups internationally were exploring the properties of dendritic cells, but with considerably different scientific approaches.

For further information, please visit http://www.cicr.uq.edu.au/

Item provided courtesy of The University of Queensland