http://www.harvardscience.harvard.edu/stories/person/1589 Stories and external links referencing a person (RSS) en http://www.harvardscience.harvard.edu/foundations/articles/a-protein-found-restore-blood-glucose-type-1-diabetes-model <!--paging_filter--><p>A protein made by the liver in response to inflammation and used to treat patients suffering from a genetic form of emphysema has been shown to restore blood glucose levels in a mouse model of <a title="" href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/diabetestype1.html">type 1 diabetes mellitus</a>, according to a new study led by <a title="" href="http://WWW.HMS.HARVARD.EDU">Harvard Medical School</a> (HMS) researchers at <a title="" href="http://www.bidmc.harvard.edu/">Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center </a>(BIDMC).</p><p><a href="http://www.harvardscience.harvard.edu/foundations/articles/a-protein-found-restore-blood-glucose-type-1-diabetes-model">read more</a></p> Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:10:46 -0400 404132862 20439 at http://www.harvardscience.harvard.edu http://www.harvardscience.harvard.edu/articles/studies-identify-proteins-role-immune-response <!--paging_filter--><p>Tim-3 (T cell immunoglobulin domain, mucin domain) proteins are found on the surface of TH1-helper type T cells, which when activated become the body's first line of defense against foreign microbes. &#8220;Activated TH1-type helper T cells both participate in and help orchestrate the attack on cells bearing proteins, thereby guarding against infection,&#8221; explains Terry Strom, chief of immunology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. &#8220;Nature gave us these cells as a critical defense against microbes.&#8221; However, he adds, these same T-cell responses must always be carefully balanced -- left unchecked, they can become overly aggressive, leading to inflammatory tissue injury and resultant autoimmune diseases. Two papers in Nature Immunology, by senior authors Strom and Brigham and Women's Hospital immunologist Vijay Kuchroo found, for the first time, that Tim-3 proteins selectively serve as &#8220;checkpoints&#8221; for the immune system, helping to keep activated TH1 T-cell responses under control. Kuchroo is associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. The Strom study was funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Center for Islet Transplantation at Harvard Medical School; the Kuchroo study was funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the National Institutes of Health.</p> Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:32:50 -0400 70652986 3437 at http://www.harvardscience.harvard.edu