Paul Ehrlich prizewinner Michael Reth and his team have discovered a protein that is responsible for autoimmune diseases. The scientists found that cells react more quickly to stimulus signals that can lead to diseases such as arthritis, and also spread these more widely when their B lymphocytes lack a protein called PTP1B.
If these proteins are weaker or less numerous than normal, this leads to a more violent autoimmune reaction by which the body attacks the previously healthy connective tissue. PTP1B is a so-called gatekeeper - a kind of gatekeeper. If it's at full strength, it's preventing toxic signals from spreading. In this way it prevents the body from attacking its own tissue, as happens in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Michael Reth says that finding out how the protein works was an important discovery. But it does not immediately lead to a possibility to cure arthritis. The scientists would have to be able to artificially stimulate the PTP1B protein; they have not yet found such a method.
(Source and further information: www.dw.de)
