Mediplacements - Biomedical scientists make immune system discovery

Biomedical scientists make immune system discovery

Thursday 17th September 2009

Biomedical scientists have made a discovery which is hoped will lead to the development of new treatments for conditions including cancer, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

A team from Imperial College London, University College London and the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research identified a master gene which helps to mobilise the immune system.

The gene causes stem cells in the blood to transform into so-called "natural killer"(NK) immune cells.

In conditions such as multiple sclerosis - which is an affliction of the central nervous system affecting the body's actions - the immune system turns against the body's own tissues.

It is suspected that faulty NK cells play a pivotal role in this.

The researchers have succeeded in creating mice which lack the gene, meaning they will be able to glean more information concerning the role of MK cells.

Ken Campbell from charity Leukaemia Research commented: "This study helps shed more light on the behaviour of NK cells, which is vital because if we understand how these cells function we can hope to exploit this knowledge to improve treatments for cancer patients," the BBC reports.

Written by Martin Lambert
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