Scientists have developed a new compound that exhibits remarkable potential in rejuvenating exhausted T cells and restoring their full functionality, suggesting a potential revolution in cancer therapy and the treatment of chronic viral diseases.

Dr Wu Bocheng, a biochemist, announced the discovery of his research team at the 2023 Northeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, an annual region conference in Boston, Massachusetts of the United States, on Saturday.

With long-time research, scientists have found that the TOX plays a critical role in T cell exhaustion, which would lead to various immune-related disorders and diseases such as viral infections, tumors and autoimmune diseases. Wu unveiled the compound developed by his research team, specifically designed to inhibit TOX.

"This TOX protein has been known since 1993, but the inhibitor discovery has not been done yet. This discovery opens unprecedented possibilities in the treatment of T cell exhaustion-related disorders," Wu declared.

"By specifically targeting TOX, our TOX inhibitor first time in the world, shows how much medicine can do for the T cell immune revitalization for effective disease management," he said.

Wu expounded on the promising results obtained from biochemistry studies, where the TOX inhibitor demonstrated the ability to reinvigorate exhausted T cells.

Wu re-stated that he and his team are probing more mechanism studies of the T cell exhaustion using this small molecule inhibitor, and are about to move into the animal testing stages with multiple disease treatments.