This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=17989

Autoimmune Disease Cure may lie in Protein

Researchers at VIB, the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, in connection with Ghent University and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, discovered a protein responsible for initiating this inflammation reaction. The protein, named MALT1, slices another protein called A20. In normal circumstances, A20 inhibits inflammation but when MALT1 is present, the inflammation reaction amplifies.

Scientists believe their findings will lead to the development of new medicines that counteract MALT1 and restrain the inflammation process naturally. They also hope to improve the treatment of cancers like MALT lymphoma as well as improve organ transplants by preventing the immunoreactions that result in tissue rejection.