Maturation instead of cell death: Defective signalling pathways disrupt immune cell development

In an autoimmune disease, the immune system attacks not only pathogens but also the body's own cells. A research team led by Marta Rizzi (University of Freiburg, Medical University of Vienna) has now been able to show that defective signalling pathways in the body play a decisive role in the development of immune cells. This opens up new therapeutic approaches for autoimmune diseases such as autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS). The study is currently published in the journal Science Immunology. "The findings show how profound the effects of signalling pathway disorders are on the functioning of our immune system and help us to better understand the mechanisms of immune cell development and function," says Marta Rizzi, research group leader at the Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at the University Medical Center Freiburg and Professor of Clinical Experimental Immunology at the Medical University of Vienna. Important insights into the development of immune cells. The FAS signalling pathway plays an important role in the regulation of programmed cell death, also known as apoptosis.