Why people on immunosuppressant drugs for autoimmune conditions have a higher incidence of an often-fatal brain disease may be linked to a mutation in a common virus.
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‘Why people on immunosuppressant drugs for autoimmune conditions have a higher incidence of an often-fatal brain disease may be linked to a mutation in a common virus.’
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Why people on immunosuppressant drugs for autoimmune conditions have a higher incidence of an often-fatal brain disease may be linked to a mutation in a common virus, suggested researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.![twitter](https://images.medindia.net/icons/news/social/twitter.png)
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"Nobody comes away unscathed from PML - you either die or you're left with a lifelong searing neurological defect," said Aron E. Lukacher, chair and professor of microbiology and immunology. "Because we don't know how the drugs cause the JC virus to amplify from a silent infection, we really have no way of controlling it."
When other researchers studied the virus in patients with PML, they found a mutation in its protein shell, the part that allows it to bind to and infect human cells. In the new study, Lukacher's team sought to answer the question: Could this mutation affect how the immune system responds to the infection?
To answer this, the researchers developed a new mouse model of polyomavirus infection that shares many characteristics that are seen in progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. They learned that mice with mutated polyomavirus strains had a reduced T cell response, the major part of the immune system that protects against the virus.
"We found that mouse polyomaviruses with a single amino acid change in their shell elicit a very different magnitude and quality of the T cell response that is needed to control the infection," Lukacher said. The researchers also found that a signaling protein called type I interferon controlled the difference in T cell response in mice with this mutant polyomavirus.
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It is still unknown how immunosuppressant therapies may cause these mutations in JCV, the researchers said. However, understanding the importance of the T cell response could help researchers prevent the development of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in autoimmune patients."We need to find ways to improve the T cell responses in patients on these therapies," Lukacher said.
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