Scientists have discovered a new role for a protein that can be targeted with medicines to increase or reduce the activity of T -immune cells to combat cancer and autoimmune diseases. The research was designed to develop immune treatments that harness the strength of the body’s immune system to fight diseases.
The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Johns Hopkins University in the United States, and its results were published in the magazine “Science Immunology”, and was written by Yurrick Alert.
Immune drugs treat cancer by accelerating the death of cancer cells, and autoimmune disorders – in which the immune system attacks the cells of the body – treats these reactions.
“Finding new goals for future drugs that can control these treatments, and making them safer and more effective, is a promising research field,” says the study researcher, Dr. Joel Boumeneranz, and a professor who participates in biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University.
The target protein bears the name “QRIC H1” (QRICH1), and is a recent discovery in the course of the CD8+cell signals, which are T -cells that make up the mechanism of killing in the immune system. Scientists note that their experiments show that “QRIC H1” acts as a partial brake that regulates the response of T -cells, indicating the possibility of designing medicines to control protein activity.
The QRC1 can be used to increase the activity of T -cells to fight cancer cells and eliminate them more effectively. In autoimmune diseases and some types of leukemia, including leukemia and lymphuma, the hyperactivity of T cells will exacerbate the disease, it can slow the Activity of T cells.