Posted on: 16 March 2010
A collaboration between scientists in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and the United Kingdom has identified a previously undiscovered white blood cell, called the nuocyte that is involved in allergic responses. The discovery has implications for the development of new treatments of asthma and other allergic diseases.
The research findings have just been published in the leading international journal Nature. The work was led by Dr Andrew McKenzie from the Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Biology in Cambridge, United Kingdom with collaboration from Professor Padraic Fallon, Science Foundation Ireland Stokes Professor of Translational Immunology at TCD’s Institute of Molecular Medicine and School of Medicine.
Allergic diseases such as eczema or asthma, may arise when the body makes an inappropriate response to molecules in the environment, such as allergens from house dust mites. This new cell was discovered by using parasitic worms to experimentally drive allergic-like responses. The cell produces a chemical called Interleukin 13 (IL-13) and initiates the early generation of responses that can lead to asthma or other allergic conditions. The name nuocyte, is from nu the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet, reflecting the cell as a major source of IL-13.
“We are very excited by this work which has identified a new cell type that initiates the generation of allergic immune responses that leads to conditions such as asthma,” explained Professor Fallon. “As asthma is on the increase globally, particularly in Ireland, the discovery of a new cell involved opens novel opportunities for developing drugs for allergic diseases. This development also sheds new light on the response to parasitic infections and could provide insights into poverty-related diseases worldwide,” he added.
Professor Dermot Kelleher, Head of the TCD School of Medicine, stated: “The School of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin has strongly focused on research relating to inflammatory diseases. We very much welcome the discovery of this new cell type which can produce radical new insights into the causation of asthma and other common diseases.”
Professor Fallon’s research on the new cell was funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). Commenting on the publication, Dr Stephen Simpson, Director of Life Science at SFI, stated: “This work has great relevance to our understanding of the role of the immune system in infection, as well as in allergic conditions. We welcome the collaboration between one of SFI’s Principal investigators and this world-class group of researchers.”
Notes to Editor:The paper, ‘Nuocytes represent a new innate effect or leukocyte that mediates type-2 immunity’ was published on March 3rd last in Nature.
