{"id":1004,"date":"2020-08-26T09:32:39","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T09:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clinlabint.3wstaging.nl\/scientists-make-critical-insights-into-t-cell-development\/"},"modified":"2021-01-08T11:09:14","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T11:09:14","slug":"scientists-make-critical-insights-into-t-cell-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clinlabint.com\/scientists-make-critical-insights-into-t-cell-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists make critical insights into T-cell development"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Mutations in the gene encoding the enzyme protein tyrosine phosphatase N2 (PTPN2) have been associated with the development of autoimmune disease including Type 1 diabetes, Crohn\u2019s Disease and rheumatoid arthritis.<\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\">In important fundamental research, Monash University researchers have identified a crucial part of the enzyme\u2019s role in early T-cell development, and have shown that decreased levels of this enzyme can lead to the type of T-cells that can contribute to the development of autoimmune disease.<\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\">Autoimmune diseases represent a broad spectrum of diseases, which arise when immune responses are directed against, and damage, the body&#8217;s own tissues. Collectively their incidence exceeds that of cancer and heart disease and they are a leading cause of death and disability, in particular in the Western world.<\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\">The Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute researchers had already shown in studies over the years that decreased levels of PTPN2 result in T-cells attacking the body\u2019s own cells and tissues.&nbsp; <\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\">In a paper they drilled deeper, exploring roles for the enzyme in early T-cell development and the development of particular T-cell subsets (\u03b1\u03b2 and \u03b3\u03b4) implicated in the development of different autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.<\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\">By removing the gene coding for PTPN2 in laboratory trials, the scientists found that the developmental process for T-cells was skewed towards the generation of \u03b3\u03b4 T cells with pro-inflammatory properties that are known to contribute to the development of different diseases including Irritable Bowel Disease, Crohn\u2019s Disease and rheumatoid arthritis.<\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\">\u201cThis is an important advance in our understanding of critical checkpoints in T-cell development,\u201d lead researcher Professor Tony Tiganis said.<\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\">\u201cIt helps decide whether the progenitors go on to become T-cells or something else; if they become one type of T-cell or another type,\u201d he said.<\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\">As part of the study, the researchers looked at the pathways that PTPN2 regulates.<\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\">\u201cThere are drugs that target some of these pathways \u2013 potentially we might be able to use existing drugs to target these pathways in the context of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases to help a subset of patients with a deficiency in this gene, although that is a long way off,\u201d Professor Tiganis said.&nbsp; <\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\">First author Dr Florian Wiede said, \u201cUnderstanding the mechanisms that govern early T-cell development and how these are altered in human disease may ultimately afford opportunities for novel treatments. This is very exciting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute<\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\"><link http:\/\/www.monash.edu\/news\/articles\/monash-university-scientists-make-critical-insights-into-t-cell-development _blank external-link-new-window \"Opens external link in new window\">www.monash.edu\/news\/articles\/monash-university-scientists-make-critical-insights-into-t-cell-development<\/link><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mutations in the gene encoding the enzyme protein tyrosine phosphatase N2 (PTPN2) have been associated with the development of autoimmune disease including Type 1 diabetes, Crohn\u2019s Disease and rheumatoid arthritis. In important fundamental research, Monash University researchers have identified a crucial part of the enzyme\u2019s role in early T-cell development, and have shown that decreased [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clinlabint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clinlabint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clinlabint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clinlabint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clinlabint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clinlabint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clinlabint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clinlabint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clinlabint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}