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Rheumatoid arthritis and cancer are related by one mechanism
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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American scientists have established that the cellular signaling pathway Notch, associated with the occurrence of cancer, affects the development of rheumatoid arthritis, reports EurekAlert! The results of the work of Dr. Xiaoyu Hu and her colleagues from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York are published in the online version of the journal Nature Immunology.
Transmembrane proteins that regulate the selection of different cell differentiation pathways in multicellular organisms are involved in the Notch cellular signaling pathway. From the results of the work of other scientists it is known that Notch is associated with the onset of cancer, and that a mutation in one of the associated genes causes genesis of rheumatoid arthritis.
Hu and her colleagues conducted a series of experiments in mice, in which macrophages lacked this cellular signaling pathway, so their body could not produce a specific type of macrophage. Such rodents were less susceptible to the occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis.
In another experiment, scientists found that, because of failures in the cellular signaling pathway, macrophages began to "attack" the joints. In response, the cells begin to produce inflammatory mediators. Thus, the inflammatory process is maintained all the time.
Also, scientists have determined how the influence of Notch on the molecular cascade leads to the emergence of inflammatory macrophages. "We explained the path of development of rheumatoid arthritis and proved that the Notch inhibitors that were developed to treat cancer and Alzheimer's disease can be used to treat rheumatoid arthritis," Dr. Hu noted. Some of these inhibitors undergo a third phase of clinical trials.
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