An enterotoxin that can suppress or prevent immune disease has been identified by Dr Neil Williams (department of pathology and microbiology, University of Bristol).
By binding to cell-surface glycosphingolipid receptors on a variety of immune cells, the non-toxic subunit of a cholera-like enterotoxin modulates the activation and survival of the cell.
Presenting the results at the joint congress of the British Society for Immunology and British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology in Harrogate on November 30, Dr Williams said that the development could provide a cure for rheumatoid arthritis by "switching off" the immune response and thereby preventing joint damage.
Aegis Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a pharmaceutical company, is being set up within the next two weeks to develop the drug. Trials are ongoing in mice but trials in humans are not expected to begin for another 12 to 18 months.