FW: mmi Rice Breakthrough Could Prevent Multiple Fibrotic Diseas

[Guest guest]

Might be a tie-in here with treating infection, as most of us here think

infection is linked to scaring. - a

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=61144 & nfid=nl

Rice Breakthrough Could Prevent Multiple Fibrotic Diseases

21 Jan 2007

A scientific breakthrough at Rice University could lead to the first

treatment that prevents the build-up of deadly scar tissue in a broad class

of diseases that account for an estimated 45 percent of U.S.

deaths each year.

" Fibrotic diseases kill so many people because they can crop up in almost

any part of the body, and cardiac fibrosis is a particular problem for

anyone who's had a heart attack, " said Gomer, professor of

biochemistry and cell biology at Rice. " We've discovered a naturally

occurring blood protein that prevents dangerous scar tissue from forming. "

The protein, which is called serum amyloid P, or SAP, has proven effective

at preventing fibrotic disease from developing in the hearts and lungs of

lab animals, and Gomer and colleagues hope it will eventually save thousands

of lives once it is developed for human use.

Fibrosis occurs when the body's natural healing process goes awry, creating

extra scar tissue that does more harm than good. There are dozens of

fibrotic diseases, including atherosclerosis, asthma, cirrhosis, scleroderma

and pulmonary fibrosis. Since there are no FDA-approved treatments to

prevent fibrotic tissue from forming, doctors typically consider fibrosis to

be an irreversible process, and they try to slow it as much as possible with

anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs.

The biopharmaceutical company Promedior Inc., of Malvern, Pa., has licensed

Rice's SAP technology for use against fibrotic diseases. The company is

engaged in animal testing, but has not yet set a date for the first human

clinical trials of SAP.

Gomer said initial animal tests of SAP at Rice have proven very promising.

The tests were conducted on animals that were pre-disposed to developing

fibrotic disease in the lungs. The tests found that SAP treatment protected

animals from developing dangerous scar tissue.

Gomer said SAP is a naturally occurring protein that circulates in the

bloodstream and plays a crucial role in regulating wound healing. SAP's role

is to inhibit the activity of immune cells called fibrocytes, which make

excess collagen that the body uses to heal wounds. Gomer said the tests at

Rice show that SAP therapy was successful in preventing fibrotic scarring.

He said SAP research in his lab began in 2001 after a chance meeting between

himself and UK immunologist Darrell Pilling. Gomer, who'd spent most of his

career studying the single-celled amoebae Dictyostelium, met Pilling at

lunch during a cell biology conference. Pilling, who was a post-doctoral

research fellow at the University of Birmingham in the UK, had recently

identified the factor that promoted lymphocyte survival in the fibrotic

joints of rheumatoid arthritis patients. However, Pilling was hoping to

isolate novel biochemical factors associated with high cell density

survival, and Gomer suggested he come to Houston to test some techniques

that had proven useful with Dictyostelium. A few days after arriving, the

pair noticed a clear interaction between the presence of serum and

fibrocytes, and within months had isolated the active component as SAP.

They immediately recognized the importance of the find: Pilling stayed in

Houston as a faculty fellow, and Gomer all but abandoned his internationally

recognized work on Dictyostelium. He even quit tinkering with astronomical

research gear, a passion he'd nurtured since his days as an undergraduate

physics major that allowed him to co-author a number of astrophysical

research papers over the years.

" Astronomy is a lot of fun, but I just couldn't see myself spending the time

on it when thousands of people were dying every day from these diseases, "

Gomer said.

###

CONTACT:

Tim Pelura, CEO

Promedior, Inc.

Gomer and Pilling's research is funded by the NIH, and was also funded by

the Medical Institute and the Scleroderma Foundation.

Contact: Jade Boyd

Rice University

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=61144