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Scientist Live turns its eyes to the Web around it and highlights science news and research across the Internet. Today's installment looks at lymphoneogenesis in the inflamed synovial tissue of patients with RA.

MEDICINE

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder affecting joints, often with severe and disabling consequences. Although cells and intracellular signals characterizing inflamed tissue in RA are not qualitatively different from those found in other conditions, in about one third of patients with RA ectopic lymphoid structures can be found in affected tissue [1]. These structures, which form in response to sustained local inflammation, reflect the anatomical organization through which lymph nodes regulate the initiation and maturation of productive adaptive immune responses. Ectopic lymphoid structures therefore appear potentially capable of similarly mediating the encounter and interaction of immune cells with antigens.

-  Toes REM, Huizinga TWJ (2009) Autoimmune Responses in the Rheumatoid Synovium. PLoS Med 6(1): e9 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000009