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Dr. Marc Pellegrini and Dr. Greg
Ebert of the Infection and Immunity Division of the Walter and Eliza Hall
Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Australia, and colleagues from the
University of Toronto conducted research that discovered a gene called Arih2
that is important to the function of the immune system. The gene is essential
for embryo survival and could be key to treating chronic infections such as
HIV, hepatitis, and TB.
Dr. Pellegrini described Arih2,
which is found in dendritic cells, as the sentinels of the immune system that
play an essential role in the body’s response to the presence of foreign
invaders. He stated that Arih2 is responsible for the decision that the immune
system makes as to whether the immune response should be initiated and
progressed or whether it should be switched off to avoid development of chronic
inflammation or autoimmunity. He explained that the immune system works well against
many infections, but some organisms have developed ways of exhausting the
immune system so that the system switches off. He listed HIV, hepatitis B, and
TB as examples of organisms that counter the immune response—exhausting T cells
“which are stimulated over and over again by the infection” and then become
exhausted or paralyzed. He said that with this discovery, researchers should be
able to reinvigorate the immune response temporarily to boost the immune system
and help clear these infections.
Dr. Ebert stated that the research
team was examining the effect on the immune response of switching off Arih2 for
short periods of time during chronic infections and looking at how manipulating
Arih2 and associated pathways promote immunity in chronic infections. He noted
that Arih2 showed promise as a drug target. The researchers state that it would
take many years for the discovery to be translated into a drug that can be used
by humans, but that the discovery has significant implications for manipulating
the immune response to infections and suppressing chronic inflammation or
autoimmunity, as researchers can target this agent to try to push immune
responses in different directions, either promoting or suppressing it.
The study, “ARIH2 Is Essential for
Embryogenesis, and Its Hematopoietic Deficiency Causes Lethal Activation of the
Immune System,” was published ahead of print in the journal Nature Immunology
2012 (doi:10.1038/ni.2478).
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dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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