Differences between allergies and infections mark new breakthrough in therapy

A team of scientists led by Luis Graça, head of a Portuguese research group at the Joao Lobo Antunes Institute of Molecular Medicine (iMM), discovered how regulates antibody production depending on whether it is allergy or one infectionwhich opens the door to discovering new treatments for allergic diseases without affecting the immune system, as published in the journal Cell Discovery.

The production of antibodies, necessary to protect our body from infections, is very well regulated due to the action of a specific subtype cells belonging the immune systemfollicular auxiliary lymphocytes.

Now a team led by Luis Graça, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, has dedicated itself to describing in detail the functioning of these cells and has discovered that this type of cell can be divided into two groups: cells that promote production antibodies to protect against viral infections and cells production related antibodies involved in protection against parasites and allergies.

Understanding how these two groups of cells work could pave the way for the discovery of new treatments for allergic diseases without interfering with the body’s beneficial response. the immune system against infections.

“We use methods biology identify genes that are active in the supporting follicular lymphocytes involved in the production of both types of antibodies,” he explains.

“Using the methods artificial intelligencewe were able to characterize genes that are associated with antibodies involved in the response to viral infections or in protection against parasites and allergies,” explains Saumya Kumar, first co-author of the paper.

“With this knowledge, we use advanced microscopy techniques that allow us to link information about active genes to the location of cells in the body. Thus, we found that cells with genes that we identified in computational models are associated with viral infections They really appear when the body is infected with a virus,” continues Afonso Basto, also the first co-author of the article.

“These discoveries identify new molecular targets that can be used to develop treatments that regulate antibody production in diseases such as allergies or autoimmunity. They could potentially make it possible to reduce the production of antibodies associated with these diseases, without reducing the ability to produce antibodies that are critical against viral infections,” says Luis Graça, speaking about the relevance of the work.

“It’s as if until now all these cells were inside a dark sac, and when the antibody-mediated immune response changes, we don’t know what’s going on inside that sac. This work brings these cells into the light and allows us to begin to study and understand how check each group of cells reacts independently,” he adds.

To develop this work, it was essential to assemble a team of specialists in the fields of medicine, biology and computer science, which demonstrates the importance interdisciplinarity and collaboration to understand how cells function in health and disease. According to Luis Graça, “scientific teams are increasingly resembling orchestras in which specialists play different instruments.”