IMMUNE CELLS LINKED TO ECZEMA

The University of Sydney

23.4.13

University of Sydney researchers have discovered a new type of immune cell in skin that plays a role in fighting off parasitic invaders such as ticks, mites, and worms, and could be linked to eczema and allergic skin diseases. The findings have been published today in the journal Nature Immunology.

The team from the Immune Imaging and T cell Laboratories at the University-affiliated Centenary Institute worked with colleagues from SA Pathology in Adelaide, the Malaghan Institute in Wellington, New   Zealand and the USA.

The new cell type is part of a family known as group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) which was discovered less than five years ago in the gut and the lung, where it has been linked to asthma. Dr Ben Roediger, a research officer in the Centenary’s Immune Imaging Laboratory said this was the first time such cells had been found in the skin, and they are relatively more numerous there.

“Our data show that these skin ILC2 cells can likely suppress or stimulate inflammation under different conditions,” he said. “They also suggest a potential link to allergic skin diseases.”

You can read the full article here:

http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=11418

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