Suicide Cell Developed to Treat Rheumatoid Arhtritis
Posted Feb 11 2010 6:00am
Macrophage
In a properly functioning immune systemthe immune cells are supposed to die after attacking an invading bacteria or virus. This process of cell death is called apoptosis.
“In apoptosisa cell quietly dies off and gets removed from the system. That’s the way our body has of renewing itself all the time. In your stomach you have itin your skin you have it. Almost all of your cells eventually die off and you get new cells.” says researcher Harris Perlmanof the Northwestern University Division of Rheumatology at Feinberg School of Medicine.
Howeverin rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patientsthe immune system macrophagesor white blood cellsdon’t diebut continue to proliferate in the blood. These cells tend to build up in the jointsattacking the healthy bone and cartilageresulting in pain and inflammation.
There are no current effective and nontoxic methods to stop this overproduction.
But recentlyPerlman and a team of researchers from the Feinberg School of Medicine discovered that immune cells in RA are deficient in the Bimor suicidemoleculewhich controls the cell’s self destruct mechanism. The team then set out to create an imitation of the Bim moleculecalled the BH3 mimetic.
The researchers then injected the new drug into mice with rheumatoid arthritis and it floated into the macrophages like a ghostleading to its nickname – Casper the Ghost.
The new drug not only resulted in the immune cells self destructingthe researchers found the disease went into remission. In their researchthey also noted that the BH3 mimetic molecule reduced joint swelling and bone loss.
“This new therapy stopped the disease cold in 75 percent of the mice,” said Perlman. “The best part was we didn’t see any toxicity. This has a lot of potential for creating an entirely new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.”
In the future Perlman and his team plan to create a better system to deliver the drugto make it more targeted and enable it to live longer in the body. He estimates that it will be five to ten years before a viable drug would be available if the therapy lives up to its promise.
The study was published in the February issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Macrophage
“In apoptosisa cell quietly dies off and gets removed from the system. That’s the way our body has of renewing itself all the time. In your stomach you have itin your skin you have it. Almost all of your cells eventually die off and you get new cells.” says researcher Harris Perlmanof the Northwestern University Division of Rheumatology at Feinberg School of Medicine.
Howeverin rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patientsthe immune system macrophagesor white blood cellsdon’t diebut continue to proliferate in the blood. These cells tend to build up in the jointsattacking the healthy bone and cartilageresulting in pain and inflammation.
There are no current effective and nontoxic methods to stop this overproduction.
But recentlyPerlman and a team of researchers from the Feinberg School of Medicine discovered that immune cells in RA are deficient in the Bimor suicidemoleculewhich controls the cell’s self destruct mechanism. The team then set out to create an imitation of the Bim moleculecalled the BH3 mimetic.
The researchers then injected the new drug into mice with rheumatoid arthritis and it floated into the macrophages like a ghostleading to its nickname – Casper the Ghost.
The new drug not only resulted in the immune cells self destructingthe researchers found the disease went into remission. In their researchthey also noted that the BH3 mimetic molecule reduced joint swelling and bone loss.
In the future Perlman and his team plan to create a better system to deliver the drugto make it more targeted and enable it to live longer in the body. He estimates that it will be five to ten years before a viable drug would be available if the therapy lives up to its promise.
The study was published in the February issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.