IMMUNOLOGY:Arresting autoimmunity
Working with a mouse version of multiple sclerosis, Gang Pei and colleagues study a protein called beta-arrestin 1, a factor known to regulate gene expression in all cells. Pei’s team reports that beta-arrestin 1 helps promote survival of T lymphocytes, which increases the duration of inflammation. In the absence of beta-arrestin 1 a critical factor required for T lymphocyte survival is not produced. Consistently, T lymphocytes lacking beta-arrestin 1 survive less well and cause much less brain inflammation in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.
Demonstrating a role for beta-arrestin 1 in prolonging survival of aggressive T lymphocytes associated with autoimmune disease provides a possible target for reducing such diseases. Whether blocking the function of beta-arrestin 1 will help multiple sclerosis patients, however, remains a question for future investigation.
Author contact:
Gang Pei (Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, China)
Tel: +86 21 5492 1371; E-mail: gpei@sibs.ac.cn