Welcome to SyMMyS!
The immune system responds to genetic and biochemical variations in an adaptive manner that may, however, contribute to autoimmune disease. The immune system plays an important role in many other diseases, but the interplay of the immune system and other physiological systems is poorly understood.
The overall objective of this Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence (2012-2017) is to understand the molecular mechanisms that control the immune system as well as the interactions between the immune system and other physiological systems in health and disease, and to translate this knowledge into novel treatment and prevention strategies of inflammatory/immune-mediated disorders, with specific focus on type 1 diabetes.
The studies will help establish if and to what extent the metabolic (dys)regulation regulates or is regulated by the immune system. Along the way, we will learn about the role of metabolism in early stages of autoimmune diseases as well as reveal novel molecular mechanisms controlling T-cell differentiation.
In spotlight
This sort of metabolomic approach to T1D natural history may be a pioneering example of environmental data-driven approaches.
From commentary by P. Bougnres and A.-J. Valleron on the paper Oresic et al., Dysregulation of lipid and amino acid metabolism precedes islet autoimmunity in children who later progress to type 1 diabetes, J. Exp. Med. 205(13), 2975-2984 (2008).]
