A discovery in the immune system opens up a new target for developing treatments for cancer and asthma

Researchers at Tel Aviv University discovered a way to neutralize the effect of a protein that encourages pathological processes in the body * The study was published last night in the prestigious journal PNAS

Researchers from the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology at the Tel Aviv University School of Medicine offer a new approach to dealing with cancer, asthma, chronic inflammation and various allergies. The approach focuses on neutralizing the activity of a central protein in the immune system called IL-4 that often causes the worsening of pathological conditions.

The research conducted by Prof. Ariel Munitz and PhD student Itai Moskovitz was published last night (June 29, 2015) in the prestigious journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). It was funded by the National Science Foundation (ISF), ICRF (Israel Cancer Research Fund) and the Verda and Boaz Dotan Foundation for Hemato-Oncology Research.

"The initial goal of the research was to examine the role of CD300f - a known protein that sometimes appears in the cells of the immune system, but no one understood its function until now," explains Prof. Munitz. "During the study we uncovered a clear interaction between CD300f and the known 'troublemaker' IL-4." In other words: the role of the CD300f protein is to enable the activity of IL-4, and without it IL-4 loses its harmful effect.

"In this way we have created a new target for drug development," states Prof. Munitz. "Future drugs that will neutralize CD300f will also neutralize the activity of IL-4, and may be suitable for the treatment of all diseases supported by IL-4."

Protection against asthma

One disease aggravated by the presence of IL-4 is asthma, and therefore the researchers chose to test their conclusions in a model for this disease. For this purpose, they engineered mice so that their bodies do not have CD300f, and injected them with IL-4. The mice, which were supposed to suffer from asthma attacks as a result, did not fully develop the disease, and it turned out that they were largely protected from it.

"Our discovery may form the basis of a new type of immunotherapy - treatment of various diseases with the help of the immune system itself," concludes Prof. Munitz. "Now we are starting a new study, which will test the effectiveness of the approach to cancer treatment."