Monday, November 10, 2003

3 Autoimmune Diseases Share a Genetic Defect, Scientists Find. Scientists have found an unexpected genetic link among three common autoimmune diseases: psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. By Nicholas Wade. [New York Times: Health]Chipping away at the complex causes of major illnesses. Progress is slow because living systems are so extremely complicated. It is not clear how this information could be turned into a drug. The Runx-1 protein implicated binds to DNA, regulating the production of numerous proteins involved in immunity. The researchers found a number of gene sequences in affected individuals' DNA where the binding site for Runx-1 was mutated. These mutations lead to aberrant control of protein production for the genes next to the mutation. Finding other ways to control levels of these genes may not be a doable process at the current state of drug discovery technology. 8:08:36 PM