Survival Gene may be key to treating HIV and Hepatitis

This article can be found in here (Walter Eliza Institute of Medical Research) , and here (nature immunology journal).

A research team from Australia and Canada have found the relationship of a gene that allows an embryo to survive with the key of treating HIV, Hepatitis, and could also be a potential tool for other diseases treatments.

The team is composed by Dr. Marc Pelligrini, Dr. Greg Ebert, and colleagues from the Institute's Infection and Immunity Division of Walter Eliza Institue of Medical Research, and with the collaboration of the University of Toronto, Canada.

This genes is called Arih2, and it has been known to be fundamental to the function of the immune system, "making critical decision about whether to switch on the immune response to an infection". It can be found on dendritic cells, which are specialized cells that raise the alarm of the immune system when they target nocive foreigner bodies. According to the authors of the article, Arih2 gene plays an important role about making decisions whether if the immune system should take actions upon the foreigner bodies or should be "swtiched off" to prevent the development of chronic inflammation or autoimmunity.

Chronic overwhelming infections like HIV exhaust and "swith off" the immune system. Here is where this gene comes to play an important role, because it allows us to understand how its complex structures influence this turning switch on and off for fighting infections and chronic diseases. Thus, the next step for researchers is to find a way to manipulate this gene and control the development of this diseases in short periods of times. We could even create drugs that can enhance or inhibit the function of this gene to a specific condition.

I found this article very interesting because I'm always been fascinated about the immune system respond on several diseases, such as how it identifies harmful infections and attack them without causing autoimmunity to the body.