Immune Checkpoint Could be a New Target against Autoimmune Disease

January 17, 2020

The immune system has many ways to keep itself in check. One method includes using negative checkpoint regulators that prevent a specific type of immune cells called T cells from attacking our own bodies and causing autoimmunity. Most negative checkpoint regulators previously identified come into play when the T cells are already in an active state.

A research article titled VISTA is a checkpoint regulator for naïve T cell quiescence and peripheral tolerance, published in Science, identified a regulator called VISTA that prevents T cells from becoming active in the first place. The researchers also found that VISTA helps prevent T cells from attacking the body’s own cells and identified how VISTA impacted pathways important in the immune response. 

The immunomodulatory role of VISTA has also caught the eye of pharmaceutical companies. Several companies are beginning to develop drugs that modulate VISTA’s effects on the immune system in hopes of treating cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Citation for report:

ElTanbouly, M. A., Zhao, Y., Nowak, E., Li, J., Schaafsma, E., Le Mercier, I., Ceeraz, S., Lines, J. L., Peng, C., Carriere, C., Huang, X., Day, M., Koehn, B., Lee, S. W., Silva Morales, M., Hogquist, K. A., Jameson, S. C., Mueller, D., Rothstein, J., Blazar, B. R., … Noelle, R. J. (2020). VISTA is a checkpoint regulator for naïve T cell quiescence and peripheral tolerance. Science (New York, N.Y.), 367(6475), eaay0524. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay0524