Researchers discover new influence of inflammation on cell communication

Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine have made significant progress in understanding cell communication during inflammation. The study, recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Scienceswas conducted over a period of five years and focused on the molecules that enable cells to function during inflammation, particularly in the central nervous system, where diseases such as multiple sclerosis occur.

“Communication is key in every relationship, even at the level of disease-causing cells,” said Mark Kaplan, Ph.D., chief of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the IU School of Medicine and senior author of the study.

“The molecules that enable cells to function in inflammation are essentially text messages sent between or within cells. We studied which cells receive these text messages and how they respond in an inflammatory environment in the central nervous system that leads to diseases like multiple sclerosis.”

The signaling molecule is called STAT4 and was previously thought to be found mainly in T cells, which are part of the immune system. But the team found that it plays a crucial role in dendritic cells, a specific cell type that responds to the extracellular text messages IL-12 and IL-23.

“Our work has shown that STAT4 may be a viable target for treating inflammatory diseases in the central nervous system,” Kaplan said. “By understanding cell-to-cell communication and the role of STAT4, we may be able to develop therapeutics to modify immune responses and alleviate the symptoms of diseases such as multiple sclerosis.”

The study’s lead author, Nada Alakhras, Ph.D., recently completed her medical degree at IU and now works at Eli Lilly and Company. Other authors include Wenwu Zhang, Nicolas Barros, James Ropa, Raj Priya and Frank Yang, all of IU, and Anchal Sharma of Eli Lilly and Company.