We are Ipsita Dey, postdoc at the University of Pittsburgh and Mara Cetty Spinella, postdoc at IRB, Switzerland. We both attended Cytokines 2023 in Athens and didn’t know each other before then. Through the ICIS email we were put in contact to share a double room at the Divani Caravel [READ MORE]
2023 has been marked by the discovery of over 10 new inborn errors of immunity, as well as novel consequences of anticytokine antibodies and somatic disease-causing variants. Amongst these were three new diseases caused by mutations in the JAK-STAT pathway. Baris et al and Sharma et al independently described a novel atopic syndrome caused by heterozygous germline gain-of-function (GOF) mutations in STAT6 1,2. This included 11 separate families across multiple continents and included atopic dermatitis, peripheral hypereosinophilia, eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease, allergic asthma, elevated total serum IgE, food allergy, and anaphylaxis. Mutations were found in the DNA-binding, linker, and SH2 domains: functional evaluation revealed sustained STAT6 phosphorylation and enhanced Th2 differentiation. Three families with disabling pansclerotic morphea due to heterozygous STAT4 GOF were described by Bhagdassarian et al 3. All three activating mutations were in the SH2 domain of STAT4; the mutant protein exhibited enhanced basal (unstimulated) phosphorylation and delayed dephosphorylation kinetics in skin fibroblasts. Patient skin and serum was characterized by markedly increased expression of IL-6. Further supporting a primary role for JAK-STAT pathway activation, both STAT6 GOF and STAT4 GOF patients responded to treatment with systemic JAK inhibitions like ruxolitinib and baricitinib. [READ MORE]
The last several years have seen a virtual explosion of novel inborn errors of immunity (IEI), with 56 novel diseases discovered between 2020-2022 1. It should therefore come as no surprise that the spectrum of genetic immune dysregulation has continued to expand dramatically over the last year. While it is impossible to review all the major advances in the field, several recent publications will be of particular interest to cytokine biologists [READ MORE]
It’s an unfortunate but well-documented fact that bias against women is rampant in the professional world (not just academia). Although I have been more fortunate than many of my female peers in this regard, I have certainly experienced this, mostly in little ways, though occasionally in jaw-droppingly big ones. Two examples will suffice. As a grad student in the early 1990s, a PI of a neighboring lab told me, “Women shouldn’t try to do science because to be successful, you need a wife.” Sadly, this type of thinking is not ancient history. A few years ago, I was slated to give a major talk at a prestigious conference alongside two men. Upon seeing the program, a senior individual at my institution said, “I see that you are the X-chromosome invitation.” Importantly, men are not the only perpetrators of such bias; women are just as likely to negatively judge other women and unconsciously reward or favor men. [READ MORE]
FOOD for THOUGHT: NEW T CELL SUBSETS?
Dr. Dragana Jankovic
NIAID, NIH
[READ MORE]
Since the first report of SARS-CoV-2 from Wuhan, back in December 2019, the pandemic has ravaged the world with ever-evolving different variants-with changing dominance patterns. Different variant of concerns (alpha, beta, gamma, delta and kappa) with corresponding spike mutations, rendering evasion of the immune system and making them varyingly resistant to different vaccines (1). Presently, the delta variant (B.1.617.2) has outcompeted the other variants of concern and is globally the most intimidatingly dominant one. [READ MORE]
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