Inhibitory T-cell molecule found

    • Anonymous
      July 10, 2006 at 7:46 pm

      I just received a post on a German CIDP news group that might be of interest. Here is an attempt at a translation of the post which is a summary of a scientific article:

      [I]Medical scientists at the Society for Biotechnical Research in Braunschweig (Germany) have discovered a molecular inhibitor of the human immune system which could lead to a cure for auto-immune diseases. Included are among others rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis or psoriasis. Several research groups are working on the solution of the phenomenon.

      The molecule in question is the protein GPR 83. It belongs to the receptor molecules found on regulatory T-cells. These are responsible for inhibiting the activity of aggressive T-cells attacking bacteria or other intruders after an immune reaction has taken place – with auto-immune diseases this inhibition is missing.

      Experiments with mice suffering from a severe skin disease have shown to be very promising…. [/I]

      I googled it but all I found was German references. Here is a link to a popular article in Technology Review – in German:

      [url]http://www.heise.de/tr/artikel/74975[/url]

      I briefly looked at this original article. According to it a Wiebke Hansen published her findings in the Journal of Immunology . Maybe if interested someone can find it.

      OK, I found a reference. Looks like I should have done my homework first. Then I would not have had to struggle so hard translating a translation : [url]http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/life_sciences/report-67245.html[/url]

    • Anonymous
      July 10, 2006 at 9:04 pm

      Thanks for the post Norb, sure looks promising.

      Jerimy

    • Anonymous
      July 11, 2006 at 7:26 am

      Norb, Thanks for the innovations report link. Seems to me that your German is not so rusty as your published effort reads well!
      This is a very interesting piece of research.:p

    • Anonymous
      July 11, 2006 at 10:30 pm

      Thank You Norb,

      These new discoveries give me hope.
      After all, The Detroit Tigers, have the best record in Major League Baseball!
      Who would have thunk it?:D

    • Anonymous
      July 11, 2006 at 10:52 pm

      After the 100 loss season of a few years ago, us Tigers fans deserve this 🙂

    • Anonymous
      July 12, 2006 at 12:31 am

      Thanks for the info norb. i’m crossing my fingers that a cure will be found quickly:)

    • Anonymous
      July 12, 2006 at 10:06 am

      For those of you not on the UK forum, here is a personal – a bit pessimistic -comment I posted there:

      [I]Thanks Ken, for posting this here. I thought I’d add and expand on my personal comments I e-mailed to you earlier.
      This discovery is very fascinating from a scientific point of view. Even if scientists are satisfied with their results, a drug company would have to get interested in marketing it eventually. Then there would be endless trials followed by a lengthy approval process. Once it appears on the market in Europe, years from now, the FDA in the US may or may not look at it.

      Bottom line: People like you or me in their seventies most likely will never see the benefits from this.

      But nevertheless, it is very interesting for me and others who are trying to find out as much as possible about the intricacies of our immune system – just because it is so complicated and much remains to be learned about it. [/I]