The Inside View

Baylor research reveals secrets of the immune system.

At the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research (BIIR), scientists are using microarray technology to see inside the human immune system at the genetic level-research that has potentially widespread benefits to patients.

Microarray technology can reveal the activity of 50,000 genes using a single drop of a patient's blood. This activity is shown as bars of changing color, and researchers at Baylor have identified different color patterns that correspond to specific disease processes, infections and allergic responses.

In one innovative application of microarray technology, researchers at Baylor are seeking ways to develop tolerance in transplanted organs, which can sometimes be rejected by the patient's immune system. Physicians often prescribe a lifetime of immunosuppressive drugs as a precaution, although some patients don't actually need them.

"Microarray technology provides a window on how the body is tolerating or rejecting a new transplanted organ," explains Michael Ramsay, M.D., president of Baylor Research Institute. "Patients who are developing acute rejection can be treated before clinical signs present-and even more important, before significant organ damage occurs."

What's more, microarray technology may help physicians identify which patients actually need immunosuppressive drugs, says Goran Klintmalm, M.D., Ph.D., chief and chairman of the Baylor Regional Transplant Institute.

"We hope that the genes will show us which patients will reject an organ and which ones will not," he explains. "We may even be able to determine that a particular patient needs certain medications while another patient needs a different set of medications."

In addition to helping physicians better evaluate the need for immunosuppressive drugs-which have side effects and can even be harmful to some patients-Baylor is conducting research in a number of other areas using microarray technology.

For example, BIIR is preparing to participate in a multicenter study of lupus to characterize the immune response of patients at various stages of the disease. BIIR also is initiating a project on HIV to further understand how the disease evades the immune system.

"The BIIR microarray research program is achieving success after success, and we are closer than ever to an application of microarrays in patient care," says Jacques Banchereau, Ph.D., director of BIIR. "The research carried out at BIIR puts Baylor at the forefront of this field."

By Amy Lynn Smith