Understanding the signals produced by clumps of proteins will help find a cure for multiple sclerosis and arthritis, say scientists in the US. Jay Groves and Kaspar Mossman, from the University of California, Berkeley, expect they will soon learn how immune cells called T cells recognise antigens - molecules that signal infection. 

Understanding the signals produced by clumps of proteins will help find a cure for MS and arthritis. © iStockPhotos

When antigens enter the body they are taken up by proteins in the cell walls of so-called antigen-presenting cells (APCs). T cells recognise the absorbed antigens and bind to the APCs. The cells meet at a junction called the immunological synapse (IS), where clusters of proteins collect.  Now, Groves and Mossman have developed a technique that allows them to modify these protein patterns, and test how the T cells respond. 

The normal response of T cells is to go about ridding the body of infection. However, if signalling goes wrong at the IS, autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis, arthritis and multiple sclerosis can develop, said Groves. These diseases are currently incurable but Groves hopes that, 'by understanding how T cells communicate, we may be able to develop drug therapies that could one day cure autoimmune disease.'

The researchers say that their method enables them to study how the IS forms, and how its protein arrangement affects T cells. They suggest that the shape and size of the protein clusters at the IS, as well as how they change over time, determine what the T cell does next. Daniel Davis of Imperial College London, UK - who also works in the field - calls the new method 'a major advance.'

Groves says that his work is 'a complete departure from chemical science dogma. Generally, chemists think that the chemical content of a system defines how the system behaves. Life is just not this simple.'

Danièle Gibney