T-Cell Discovery Holds Promise for Organ Transplant and Immunodeficiency Treatment, University of British Columbia Study

University of British Columbia researchers have solved a long-standing mystery surrounding the activation of T-cells, white blood cells that find and kill viruses and bacteria but also participate in the rejection of transplanted organs. By identifying the mechanism that leads T-cells to spring into action and proliferate, the research, published online this month by the journal Immunity, provides a new target for future or existing drugs that could bolster the immune systems of people with HIV or cancer, according to lead researcher Wilfred Jefferies, professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories. Such drugs could also be used for the opposite effect – to stop the rejection of transplanted organs, or inhibit the immune system from attacking normal tissues, as happens in auto-immune disease such as arthritis or diabetes.