A University of Central Florida research
team has discovered a new protein family that may play an important role
in preventing inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, some forms of
cancer and even heart disease.
The findings that in the future may aid the body's defense system are
published in the March 7 edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
The research is partially funded by the National Institutes of Health.
"What we found is a family of proteins that control macrophage
activation," researcher Mingui Fu said from a laboratory in the
Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences at UCF.
Macrophages are the body's self-cleaners. They live in the
bloodstream and are called to action when bacteria or other foreign
objects attack. Scientists have been studying what triggers them, but no
one has come up with a step-by-step process yet. Once triggered,
macrophages travel to the infection site and gobble up the invader,
helping the body heal. The attack is manifested by inflammation at the
infection site.
When everything works right, the inflammation goes away and the
person's health improves. But when macrophages go awry, they can
cause more harm than good. Sometimes the macrophages mistake the
body's own organs for invaders and attack, and that can cause
arthritis or some forms of cancer. Sometimes the cleaners fail to detect
threats, such as malignant cancer cells, which then go unregulated and
can turn into fatal tumors.
When Fu arrived at UCF in 2007, he teamed up with Pappachan
Kolattukudy, the director of the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences.
Kolattukudy's laboratory has been studying for two decades how a small
protein called MCP, produced at the site of injury, infection or
inflammation, attracts macrophages to the site to clean up. Last year
his team published the discovery of a novel gene called MCPIP that is
turned on by MCP. They showed that MCPIP is involved in the development
of ischemic heart failure, the leading cause of death. This team has
been exploring how this new gene works.
MCPIP turns out to be the first member of a small, newly discovered
gene family called CCCH-Zinc fingure proteins. This family appears to
switch the macrophages on and off. The researchers continue to study
different aspects of the proteins because of the possibility that they
will be critical in treating and curing inflammatory diseases.
Kolattukudy said the new protein holds a lot of promise, but more
studies are needed.
"Because this novel protein has key roles to play in the major
inflammatory diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and
obesity-induced type2 diabetes, it is a promising drug target,"
Kolattukudy said. "We have a patent application filed on this protein
for that purpose."
In 2006, heart disease and strokes accounted for more than 12.7 million
deaths around the world, according to the World Health Organization.
Co-researchers on the project include Jian Liang, Jin Wang, Asim Azfer,
Wenjun Song, Gail Tromp and Kolattukudy, all from UCF's Burnett School
of Biomedical Sciences in the College of Medicine.
The Burnett school specializes in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular
diseases, neurological diseases and infectious diseases. The focus of
the school laid the foundation for the College of Medicine.
Fu earned his Ph.D. from the Peking University Medical School in
Beijing, China. He was an instructor at the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical School in Dallas before joining UCF in 2007.
UCF Stands For Opportunity --The University of Central Florida is a
metropolitan research university that ranks as the 6th largest in the
nation with more than 48,000 students. UCF's first classes were offered
in 1968. The university offers impressive academic and research
environments that power the region's economic development. UCF's culture
of opportunity is driven by our diversity, Orlando environment, history
of entrepreneurship and our youth, relevance and energy.
University of Central Florida
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