New Tool To Accelerate Discovery Of Autoimmune Disease Mechanisms And Therapies

Main Category: Arthritis / Rheumatology
Also Included In: Irritable-Bowel Syndrome;  Multiple Sclerosis;  IT / Internet / E-mail
Article Date: 31 Oct 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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Currently, 5 - 8% of the U.S. population is afflicted with an autoimmune disease. Many of these are chronic and require life-long care. Moreover, different autoimmune diseases aggregate within a single family, suggesting they are caused by disruptions in common biological pathways.

To help researchers investigate these common pathways, The Jackson Laboratory has published Pathways to Discovery: Autoimmune Diseases (http://www.jax.org/jaxmice/pathways/autoimmune), a unique, interactive, and publicly accessible online resource that illustrates the genetic networks involved in five common autoimmune diseases: inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis, and psoriasis.

The backbone of the new tool is five "spider-web" diagrams that depict the gene/proteins involved in two or more of the five diseases. The symbols in the diagrams represent cytokines, transmembrane receptors, enzymes, nuclear receptors, and transcriptional regulators. The resource also provides gene- and disease-specific references, links to JAX® Mice strains (including inducible mouse models) that can be used to research the five diseases, and descriptions of JAX® In Vivo Services for compound efficacy testing.

Pathways to Discovery: Autoimmune Diseasespromises to accelerate the discovery of autoimmune disease mechanisms and therapeutic interventions for both new and existing targets.

Source: Joyce Peterson
Jackson Laboratory