To fight infection, T cells are produced by the body.

T cells have already been identified as two types (both produced in the thymus):

• effector T cells - the ones that attack infected cells
• regulatory T cells- the ones that suppress the immune system, thereby protecting the body from inflammatory damage during infection

In a new study funded by The Wellcome Trust, a research team has discovered a novel mechanism that would determine whether a maturing T cell is likely to emerge from the thymus as an effector cell or a regulatory cell.

Such mechanism would lead to a novel way of fighting immune system-related diseases such as cancer, type 1 diabetes and arthritis, wherein new treatments can be developed to deliberately ffect the type of T cells produced, allowing scientists to tackle a number of diseases which are influenced by these different types of T cells.

According to Professor Adrian Hayday of King's College London:

"Our team has shown that a process known as 'trans-conditioning', which we knew to be involved in T cell development, actually has a profound influence on whether a T cell becomes an effector or a regulatory cell.

This may be clinically significant; if we can find a way to influence this process, it may be possible to make the body produce effector T cells in a cancer patient or regulatory T cells in someone suffering from autoimmune disease, both of which are caused by the immune system malfunctioning."

We believe that trans-conditioning is less active during pregnancy. This means that most T cells emerging at that time will be regulatory. Regulatory T cells prevent an over-active immune system from causing inflammatory damage to the body. This may be one of the key steps in preventing the mother from rejecting the foetus growing inside her."

The study appeared online in the journal Nature.

Source: Science Daily

[In Photo: T cells in blood, Credit: Haverford College]