BETting on Th17 cells

Researchers at Constellation Pharmaceuticals Inc. have established a connection between BET bromodomain proteins and pathogenic T helper type 17 cells.¹ The findings hint at therapeutic opportunities for this epigenetic target class in autoimmunity and inflammatory disease, but further details about tolerability and specificity of current BET inhibitors are needed.

BET bromodomains are protein modules that bind to acetylated lysine residues of histones, the principal components of chromatin. Small molecule BET inhibitors mimic acetylated lysine and prevent BET proteins from recognizing chromatin, leading to transcriptional changes that arrest cell proliferation and differentiation...