Stanford Researchers Discover Signaling Pathway That Controls Immune Cell Response

Researchers have discovered that a “single signaling pathway controls whether immune cells attack or befriend cells they encounter while patrolling our bodies.”

Regulatory T cells (known as Tregs) spearhead an important immune function that “prevents inappropriate attacks on healthy tissue.” Researchers now understand that the “erythropoietin, or EPO, signaling pathway in a subset of dendritic cells called type 1 conventional dendritic cells is what triggers [Tregs].” Manipulating this pathway may be the key to treat a wide range of diseases.

Overly enthusiastic immune systems will attack healthy tissues, leading to autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, or diabetes. An overly complacent immune system response “allows cancer cells to escape immune destruction.” This immune system response is governed by Tregs.

The researchers used an experimental approach, irradiating “the thymus, spleen, and lymph nodes” to kill off T and B cells that can inappropriately attack other cells. This treatment “reprograms the patient’s immune system to permanently tolerate genetically mismatched transplanted cells or organs.” They also discovered that a certain receptor in cells that orchestrate T-cell responses basically dictate what certain dendritic cells will do, “promoting tolerance and selectively activating Tregs that tamp down…immune response.” This mechanism is “required for physiological tolerance that prevents autoimmune disease” and is “often hijacked by cancers.”