Eliminating Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune diseases affect numerous people throughout the world.  Rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis; they are all diseases we have heard of before.  The prospect of a treatment being possible is a tough obstacle to climb, for autoimmune diseases are incredibly hard to treat.  How soon could we expect some sort of drug that would help us combat such diseases?

Well, the wait may only be a little bit longer.

Scientists from Russia, Germany and Great Britain have recently created a prototype of a new antibody-based drug for autoimmune diseases.  This new drug, being called MYSTI (Myeloid-Specific TNF Inhibitor), focuses on the Tumer Necrosis Factors (TNF) produced by macrophages in the body.  This protein belongs to the family of cytokines, which help control inflammation, counterbalance tumor formation, and regulate the immune system against a plethora of diseases.  However, there are two sides to this small protein.  The "good" TNFs help the body by performing the actions listed above.  The "bad" TNFs are ones that do not function correctly and can promote serious diseases in the body.

In order to create a drug that would focus on the bad TNFs without harming the good TNFs, the scientists focused on bispecific antibodies.  EurekAlert gives a specific but brief description of bispecific antibodies:

Each B-lymphocyte produces against a particular antigen only one antibody type consisting of two pairs of heavy and light chains. Though scientists learned long time ago to produce artificial, 'chimeric' antibodies that are able to stick to two proteins simultaneously with various Fab-fragments. Such antibodies are called bispecific. One of its advantages - a possibility to connect different cells using such an antibody - this was already used to produce effective cure for several kinds of tumors. In antibody bioengineering field, a particular type of antibodies from camel, lama or shark, which contain only heavy chains, can be used. 

By utilizing these bispecific antibodies, the team of researchers successfully created a sample of bispecific antibodies that selectively inhibit the bad TNFs without altering the function of the good TNFs.  "This work lasted nearly ten years. The article describes only the tip of the iceberg," said Sergei Nedospasov, who was the main author of this study.  In addition, this research proves through scientific means that it is entirely possible to focus on a specific cytokine and produce it through a particular type of cell lineage.

Granted, this does not mean that the cure for cancer and all autoimmune diseases is at hand.  However, this is an incredible step into learning more about these diseases and finding a successful treatment that will help millions of people around the world.

More information on this topic can be found here:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/lmsu-adg022916.php

The scientific paper that was published on this topic can be found here:

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/03/01/1520175113.full