New treatments based on T-cell stimulation possible

Scientists have found that certain T-cell stimulation could help improve treatment of autoimmune disease and cancer, which could be significant for developing new drug treatments to help patients with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, or juvenile diabetes. The researchers showed that the anti-IL-2 monoclonal antibody (IL-2 mAb) expands the proliferation of specific T cells in vivo by increasing the biological activity of naturally occurring IL-2 through the formation of immune complexes. However, IL-2 also stimulates CD4+ T regulatory cells, which can suppress those same memory T cells. Therefore, the prevailing view was that administration of IL-2 mAb removes the IL-2-dependent CD4+ T regulatory cells, which in turn leads to an expansion of CD8+ T cells. "Source":[ http://www.in-pharmatechnologist.com/news/ng.asp?n=66067-autoimmune-immunology-cytokine].

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