Master Gene Identified: Turns Blood Stem Cells Into “Natural Killer”

Using a mouse model, scientists have identified the master gene that turns blood stem cells into “Natural Killer” (NK) cells that fight disease, according to a study published in Nature Immunology and reported by ScienceDaily. The gene is known as E4bp4, and the breakthrough animal model may help discover the role that NK cells play in autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Some researchers suspect that malfunctioning NK cells cause these diseases by turning on the body and attacking healthy cells, and determining the role of NK cells may lead to new treatments. Researchers at Imperial College London, University College London, and the Med­ical Research Council’s Nat­ional Institute for Medical Research hope to make progress with a drug treatment for cancer which reacts with the protein expressed by the E4bp4 gene and causes the patient’s body to produce a higher number of NK cells than normal, thus increasing the chances of successfully destroy­ing tumor cells. NK cells, which are a type of white blood cell, are currently isolated from donated blood and sometimes used to treat cancer patients, but the donated cells are limited in their effectiveness. If a patient’s own blood stem cells could be caused to differentiate into NK cells via drug treatment, the problems of donor incompatibility could be avoided during cancer therapy. NK cells are continuously generated from blood stem cells in bone marrow, and the E4bp4 gene is the “master gene” for NK cell production and is thus the primary driver that causes blood stem cells to differentiate into NK cells. This animal model will allow medical researchers, for the first time, to discover if NK cell malfunction is behind a wide range of medical conditions, including autoimmune disorders, inflammatory conditions, persistent viral infections, female infertility, and graft rejection.

(Source: ScienceDaily, September 14, 2009; adapted from materials provided by Imperial College London, via EurekAlert!, a service of American Association for the Advancement of Science)