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Monash researchers have solved a mystery, revealing how certain immune cells work together to instigate autoimmune kidney disease.The study, led by Professor Michael Hickey and Professor Richard Kitching from Monash University’s Centre for Inflammatory Diseases. In glomerulonephritis, an immune disease of the kidney, rogue immune cells damage the kidney via a misdirected inflammatory attack.
Special cells called monocytes continuously patrol the glomeruli by crawling within its blood vessels. Monocytes are very good at ‘picking up and removing rubbish’ and being on the lookout for signs of infection and tissue injury. However in autoimmunity, some immune cells in the circulation are highly reactive to molecules picked up in the kidney.
Patrolling monocytes can display these molecules to the reactive immune cells in the bloodstream, resulting in the rogue cells remaining in the kidney and turning on an unnecessary and damaging inflammatory attack. This autoimmune damage to the kidney can severely impact on the normal function of the kidney, if left untreated.
This damage occurs while the cells are moving around in the kidney blood vessels. This process, known as intravascular antigen recognition, has never been described before for the key helper T cells that direct and control the immune response.
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