Elucidating the role of tyrosine kinase Lyn in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Lupus is a disease where a person’s immune system misfires and launches an attack on their own body, causing widespread inflammation and tissue destruction. Lyn is an enzyme that is essential to immune cell signalling balance; however, the role of Lyn in lupus has been unclear. The research presented here found Lyn to be overactive in lupus patients and associated with severe disease. However, Lyn was also revealed to have protective functions independent of its enzyme activity. Taken together, the findings suggest the potential to repurpose drugs that inhibit the enzyme activity of Lyn to treat lupus disease.