Pathogenic memory cells of rheumatic inflammation hide in the bone marrow

Why can we not permanently cure rheumatic diseases in most patients? Scientists at the DRFZ have now summarized a series of research papers in a review article published in the journal European Journal of Immunology, which show that the cells of the immune system that drive rheumatic inflammation do not all reside in the inflamed tissues, some hide in the bone marrow. In the bone they are protected by distinct connective tissue cells, the mesenchymal stromal cells, which maintain them for years. Here they survive treatment with anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive therapies, and can cause flares of inflammation again and again. New therapies developed at the DRFZ address these cells in their niches.

Further publications:
Homeostasis and Durability of T-Cell Memory—The Resting and the Restless T-Cell Memory

Contact Dependent PI3K and APRIL Induced NF-κB Signaling Prevent Mitochondrial- and ER Stress Induced Death of Memory Plasma Cells

Single-cell transcriptomes of murine bone marrow stromal cells reveal niche-associated heterogeneity

Immunological memory in rheumatic inflammation — a roadblock to tolerance induction. Nature Reviews Rheumatology