Rare disease gives new insight into regulatory T-cell function

An international study led by researchers at CMM provides new insights into the regulatory T cells’ role in protecting against autoimmune disease. By mapping the targets of the immune system in patients with the rare disease IPEX, they were able to show that regulatory T cells control immunotolerance in the gut.

The researchers took advantage of a method that makes it possible to examine the immune response against 9,000 proteins in parallel.

“Our study is the first large-scale assay of how the immune system attacks the organs of IPEX patients,” says first author Daniel Eriksson to KI News.

“We hope that our results will make it easier to diagnose patients with IPEX and monitor them during treatment,” says Nils Landegren, the study’s last author.

Daniel Eriksson and Nils Landegren. Photo: Fabian Sardh. 

The study The autoimmune targets in IPEX are dominated by gut epithelial proteins was published in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, online 23 April 2019.

Read more at Karolinska Institutet website.