Finger on the pulse
Eran Shiferman, Haaretz
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Scientists have discovered that B cells and T cells, which are the watchdogs of the immune system, need to be restrained when they are not working, in order to prevent them from triggering an autoimmune response in which they attack the body's healthy cells. The new study is published in the journal Science and claims that contrary to the popular opinion, according to which the elimination cells go into a coma when their activity is not necessary, B and T cells maintain a high level of metabolic activity - but they avoid doing their work, through a genetic control system. The researchers discovered that the Foxj1 gene is the one that keeps the elimination cells in readiness, the researchers engineered mice without the Foxj1 gene and discovered that these mice developed a lupus-like syndrome, accompanied by inflammation in a large number of important organs and tissues.
The Foxj1 gene is also found in humans, and researchers are currently working on studies that test its activity in the body. In any case, the researchers emphasize that it is unlikely to assume that the cause of autoimmune diseases stems exclusively from damage to this gene, but their findings open up a new research direction that may lead to the discovery of drug treatment for diseases such as arthritis, diabetes and lupus.
They knew innovations in medicine
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