An international study was able to identify one of the factors that mediates the weakening of the immune system

Prof. Cyril Cohen from Bar-Ilan University examined the phenomenon and proved it on human cells. The new discovery may help to increase the activity of the immune system in cases of chronic diseases and cancer

Certain tumors and viral infections pose a challenge to the human body, where the immune system usually fails immediately. In these diseases, it goes into a hypofunctional state that prevents adequate protection. An international research team led by Dietmar Zenn, Professor of Physiology and Immunology at the School of Life Sciences at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) together with researchers from the USA, Switzerland, Australia and Israel managed to identify the crucial molecular switch that activates such defective immune responses. This may allow in the future to pass or prevent this situation. The study, published in the journal NATURE managed to discover an important factor which contributes to silencing our immune system during chronic diseases.

"Our immune system is a kind of powerful little army that affects the body's fight against various infections and diseases." Says Prof. Cyril Cohen, head of the laboratory for immunology and immunotherapy of cancer at the Faculty of Life Sciences at Bar-Ilan University, the Israeli representative on the international team and who is trusted by the side that examined the research in human cells.

Normally, the immune system goes into a state of maximum alert following a viral attack. This awakening prompts the activation of a variety of immune cells such as T cells and B cells. These cells multiply in large numbers and vigorously fight the infected cells. However, if the immune system fails to defeat the virus, it becomes exhausted due to the continuous activity against the virus. It is important to understand this system because overactivity of the immune system can damage healthy cells and tissues in the body, while the absence of the immune system prevents its treatment of cancer cells and thus these become malignant tumors.
The study focused on T cells, a group of white blood cells that play a central role in the acquired immune system. They are the guardians of the body, are a main part of the immune memory, are important for dealing with cancer and are able to fight infections and viral diseases such as flu, chicken pox within a few days. Sometimes when the immune system is inhibited and fails to overcome a certain infection, an illness can last for several months and become chronic. The assumption is that a similar thing happens in cancer when the immune system is exposed to it for a long time and does not overcome it.
If so, chronic diseases put tremendous pressure on the immune system and studies show that this causes it to become silent.

Researchers James Ellison from the USA and Tsuko Honjo from Japan, winners of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine for curing cancer by inhibiting negative immune regulation, showed how different strategies for disrupting the brakes of the immune system can be used in the treatment of cancer. Their discoveries are a milestone in humanity's fight against cancer. The group of researchers has now managed to find a central mechanism for activating those "brakes".
Prof. Cyril Cohen studied the melanoma disease and succeeded in developing approaches to strengthen the activity of the immune system against these cancer cells.

Prof. Cyril Cohen: "Thanks to international cooperation, we were able to find that there is a protein called TOX and it is the carrier of a state of exhaustion in T cells. This protein that is inside the cells serves as a catalyst (catalyst) for a state of severe exhaustion" Therefore, the current research is a breakthrough because it May allow researchers to exploit the potential of the T cells and thus improve their ability to withstand long-term diseases such as cancer. "
"Now that we are equipped with this information and understand better what the controllers of T cells are during a prolonged illness, it will be possible to design advanced therapeutic strategies to better fight diseases such as cancer and other chronic diseases."

for the scientific article

More of the topic in Hayadan:
A new method for treating colon cancer by strengthening the immune system
Researchers have developed a "switch" that activates the immune system to attack cancer cells when it detects signs of the disease
A breakthrough in the activation of the immune system against metastatic melanoma