Study Explores the Emerging Role of NAD+ in Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have discovered a new cellular and molecular pathway that regulates CD4+ T cell response--a finding that may lead to new ways to treat diseases that result from alterations in these cells. Their discovery, published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, shows that administering nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), a natural molecule found in all living cells, shuts off the capacity of dendritic cells and macrophages to dictate CD4+ T fate. Researchers found that NAD+ administration regulated CD4+ T cells via mast cells (MCs), cells that have been mainly described in the context of allergy, exclusively.