Editor: Aigerim Akhmetova
Translator: Tursunova Balkadisha
Author: Aldiyarbek Nurlan
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, affecting 1-2% of the world's population. It is characterized by progressive joint inflammation and disability, which seriously affects the patient's quality of life. There is currently no cure.
"B cells" are key cells of the immune system that are responsible for producing antibodies that fight infections. However, in RA, these B cells - for reasons not yet fully understood-cannot distinguish friend from foe and thus affect the joints. This leads to a clear inflammation of the joints, which causes such pain in patients.
Led by Dr Achilleas Fludas and Professor Ursula Fearon, a team of researchers working in molecular rheumatology at Trinity College, Dublin school of medicine, discovered a new population of cells that is particularly worrying for people living with RA, and also learned how these cells accumulate in the joints.
Together, their work identifies two potentially new therapeutic goals for RA. Dr Fludas said: "We have discovered a new population of B cells in the joints of RA patients, and these cells are more invasive than those we knew before. Their damaging effects depend on the production of certain encoded messages in the form of proteins called cytokines and energy pathways inside cells that essentially maintain their activation. They are mostly "turned on", cause inflammation, and are maintained in the environment of an inflamed joint. We also discovered a new mechanism by which these B cells accumulate in the joints, by identifying the protein that appears to be responsible for attracting them to the joints. As a result, we now have two new potential targets for people living with RA. We are still far from a therapeutic solution, but if we can find a way to target these B cells and / or the protein that attracts them to the joints, we may one day hope to develop a therapy that can positively affect millions of people.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201112134626.htm
