More than 23.5 million Americans suffer from autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma and lupus, in which an overzealous immune response leads to pain, inflammation, skin disorders and other chronic health problems. The conditions are so common that three of the top-five selling drugs in the United States aim to ease their symptoms. But no cure exists, and treatments are expensive and come with side effects.
Now CU Boulder researchers have developed a potent, drug-like compound that could someday revolutionize treatment of such diseases by inhibiting a protein instrumental in prompting the body to start attacking its own tissue.
More than 23.5 million Americans suffer from autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma and lupus, in which an overzealous immune response leads to pain, inflammation, skin disorders and other chronic health problems. The conditions are so common that three of the top-five selling drugs in the United States aim to ease their symptoms. But no cure exists, and treatments are expensive and come with side effects.
Now CU Boulder researchers have developed a potent, drug-like compound that could someday revolutionize treatment of such diseases by inhibiting a protein instrumental in prompting the body to start attacking its own tissue.
“We have discovered a key to lock this protein in a resting state,” said Hang Hubert Yin, a biochemistry professor in the BioFrontiers Institute and lead author of a paper, published today in Nature Chemical Biology, describing the discovery. “This could be paradigm shifting.”
For years, scientists have suspected that a protein called Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8) plays a key role in the innate immune response. When it senses the presence of a virus or bacteria, it goes through a series of steps to transform from its passive to active state, triggering a cascade of inflammatory signals to fight off the foreign invader. But, as Yin explained, “it can be a double-edged sword,” leading to disease when that response is excessive.
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