Scientists from the UK have tracked the activation of immune T cells over time. Valuable observations have been obtained that will help accelerate the search for methods of treating diseases of the immune system.
In a first-of-its-kind experiment, its authors found a link between 127 genes and immune diseases. And this provides new insights into the sequence and timing of gene activity during the activation of immune T cells. This is a key process in regulating the immune response in our body. This study was conducted by scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
A three-year follow-up showed for the first time numerous variants that are active in connection with various immune diseases at different stages of T-cell activation. All this will help develop new treatments for immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and type 1 diabetes. Recall that T cells are a group of white blood cells involved in the management of the human immune system. When T-cell immunity fails, a severe immunodeficiency is observed, exposing a person to the risk of developing a variety of diseases that, with normal immunity, do not appear at all or quickly disappear.
When T-cell immunity is impaired, patients can die from the common cold or fungus, and the risk of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, in which the body begins to attack its own tissues, increases. T cell activation is the first step in the immune response to infection. But until now, there has been only limited understanding of the sequence of this activation. And now scientists have deepened this knowledge by identifying more than 6,400 genes involved in the process of T-cell activation. (READ MORE) 
Wellcome Sanger Institute
Medicine
previously known as The Sanger Center and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, is a non-profit UK research institute in the field of genomics and genetics