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Elevated levels of Bcl-3 inhibits Treg development and function resulting in spontaneous colitis

Manganus

Senior Member
Messages
166
Location
Canary islands
There seems to be a certain co-morbidity between ME and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). This article has found a mechanism. One can imagine similar mechanisms causing the general inflammation in other tissues, known by many ME-sufferers.

From the press release:
We were able to demonstrate that the level of the Bcl-3 protein, which also plays a role in the development of various cancerous diseases, is elevated in the intestinal tract of colitis patients and is indeed a trigger of the disease," said Dr. Hövelmeyer, head of the work group at the Mainz-based Institute for Molecular Medicine. According to the study, Bcl-3 impacts intestinal health through interaction with the regulatory T cells (Tregs) whose main task is to prevent overreaction of the immune system.

"We were able to demonstrate that Bcl-3 suppresses the activation of Tregs by preventing the necessary genes from being read," explained Dr. Glasmacher, head of the team at the Institute for Diabetes and Obesity in Munich. "Bcl-3 interacts with the transcription factor p50, which is otherwise responsible for activation, and blocks it."

"Consequentially, the regulatory T cells remain passive, the immune system is no longer regulated, and inflammatory processes begin to take place. Experiments using various models have revealed that elevated quantities of Bcl-3 cause certain cells to migrate to the intestines, where they trigger a severe inflammatory response," Sonja Reissig, Ph.D., lead author of the paper and research associate at Mainz University Medical Center, pointed out.

"The results represent a major contribution toward our understanding of chronic intestinal inflammation and hopefully over the long term will help us discover aspects that we can target with new therapies," concluded Dr. Hövelmeyer.

Full text:
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15069