A research team at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet has shown for the time that microRNA, small RNA molecules, may play an important role in the development of inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis and atopic eczema. The research team is led by Professor Mona Ståhle, one of Sweden’s most prominent scientists in the field.
MicroRNA are small RNA molecules that regulate gene expression, and by acting on many different proteins and different cellular mechanisms in skin and immune cells these small RNA molecules may be an important factor in the development of disease. Therapies based on microRNA might therefore in the future become more effective than medicines targeted at individual proteins.
”We believe that microRNA may also be significant in regulating other common chronic inflammatory diseases such as arthritis and certain autoimmune diseases,” says Andor Pivarcsi, who has directed the study together with Enikö Sonkoly.
The study shows that microRNA has different patterns of expression in psoriasis compared with normal skin and also in comparison with atopic eczema. One of these molecules, miR-203, is of particular interest as it is greatly upregulated in psoriasis and is only expressed by the skin’s epithelial cells, keratinocytes.
No one has previously investigated whether this quite recently discovered group of molecules might be significant in inflammatory diseases. Psoriasis and atopic eczema are the most common chronic inflammatory skin diseases. Despite intensive research, not enough is yet known about underlying disease mechanisms, which hampers the development of effective drugs.
Source: Karolinska Institutet
Related stories:
Engineers pave way to 'artificial nose'
MIT biological engineers have found a way to mass-produce smell receptors in the laboratory, an advance that paves the way for "artificial noses" to be created and used in a variety of settings.
Scientists discover new link in pathway to cancer: hope for drug design
(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Manchester scientists have identified an exciting connection between a cell’s extracellular environment and the activity of a signalling pathway molecule that controls the development of organs and tissues, as well as cancer and kidney disease.
Researchers discover how rheumatoid arthritis causes bone loss
Researchers have discovered key details of how rheumatoid arthritis (RA) destroys bone, according to a study published in the Aug. 22 edition of the
Journal of Biological Chemistry. The findings are already guiding attempts to design new drugs to reverse RA-related bone loss and may also address more common forms of osteoporosis with a few adjustments.
Researchers identify alternate pathway that leads to palate development
Researchers at the University Of Southern California School Of Dentistry have uncovered another clue behind the causes of cleft palate and the process that leads to palate formation.
Pheromones enhance sex, slow aging -- in worms
(PhysOrg.com) -- People will pay big bucks for pills that promise to enhance sex or slow aging. Now, a Cornell researcher and colleagues have uncovered a class of small molecules in tiny worms that not only attract mates but also arrest development for months in larvae.
Key site in iron metabolism aids in diagnosing anemia of chronic disease
University of Utah School of Medicine researchers have developed a new tool that facilitates diagnosis of anemia related to chronic illness, as well as diseases of iron overload. The results of a study detailing the new tool are published in the August 2008 issue of the journal
Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press.
NIAMS scientists find potential new way to block inflammation in autoimmune disease
Researchers from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have identified a promising new target for autoimmune disease treatment – a cell-surface receptor called DR3. Their research in mice, published on line in the journal Immunity, suggests that blocking this receptor could slow or stop the damaging inflammation characteristic of autoimmune diseases, potentially without leaving the body vulnerable to serious infections, as many current therapies do.
The structure of XPD sheds light on cancer and aging
The protein XPD is one component of an essential repair mechanism that maintains the integrity of DNA. XPD is unique, however, in that pinpoint mutations of this single protein are responsible for three different human diseases: in xeroderma pigmentosum, extreme sensitivity to sunlight promotes cancer; Cockayne syndrome involves stunted growth and premature aging; trichothiodystrophy, characterized by brittle hair and scaly skin, is another form of greatly accelerated aging.