Tuesday, September 30, 2014

New findings could pave way for treating autoimmune diseases

Scientists from A*STAR's Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) have established a clearer relationship between two cells which serve our body's natural defence mechanisms against diseases and infections. Their findings, published in the prestigious journal CELL REPORTS, will help the medical community better understand autoimmunity and could pave the way for treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Natural killer T (NKT) cells and B cells are two of many immune cell types that work in tandem to help the body fight against foreign infectious agents. NKT cells have very potent functions and are crucial to the immune system despite making up only a small percentage of white blood cells. While scientists have established that NKT cells can promote the production of antibodies by B cells to combat infection, little is known about the effect of B cells on NKT cells until now.

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