• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Monday, August 25, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

Selective, toxin-bearing antibodies could help treat liver fibrosis

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
July 12, 2021
in Science News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

In mouse models of human disease, immunotoxins targeting the protein mesothelin prevent liver cells from producing collagen, a precursor to fibrosis and cirrhosis

IMAGE

Credit: UC San Diego Health Sciences

Chronic alcohol abuse and hepatitis can injure the liver and lead to fibrosis, the buildup of collagen and scar tissue. As a potential approach to treating liver fibrosis, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers and their collaborators are looking for ways to stop liver cells from producing collagen.

“So we thought…what if we take immunotoxins and try to get them to kill collagen-producing cells in the liver,” said team lead Tatiana Kisseleva, MD, PhD, associate professor of surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “If these antibodies carrying toxic molecules can find and bind the cells, the cells will eat up the ‘gift’ and die.”

In a study published July 12, 2021 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Kisseleva and collaborators provide the first evidence that liver fibrosis might be treatable with immunotoxins designed to bind a protein called mesothelin. Mesothelin is rarely found in the healthy human body. Only cancer cells and collagen-producing liver cells, known as portal fibroblasts, make the protein.

Kisseleva teamed up with co-author Ira Pastan, MD, at the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Pastan is co-discoverer of mesothelin and an expert on using immunotoxins to target the protein on cancer cells. He leads several clinical trials testing the approach to treat patients with ovarian cancer, mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer.

To test Pastan’s immunotoxins in the context of liver fibrosis, Kisseleva’s team first needed a model. Since the immunotoxins specifically recognize human mesothelin, a traditional mouse model of liver fibrosis wouldn’t work. Instead, they transplanted human liver cells isolated from patients to mice and treated them with the anti-mesothelin immunotoxin.

Compared to untreated mice, 60 to 100 percent of human mesothelin-producing cells were killed by the immunotoxins, which also reduced collagen deposition.

Treatment for liver fibrosis is currently very limited. According to the NIH, weight loss is currently the only known method for reducing liver fibrosis associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Alcoholic liver disease is most commonly treated with corticosteroids, but they are not highly effective. Early liver transplantation is the only proven cure, but it is offered only at select medical centers to a limited number of patients.

“What we want to know now is, can this same strategy be applied to other organs?” Kisseleva said. “Surprisingly enough, the same cells are responsible for fibrosis in the lung and kidneys. This is especially exciting because we already know from Dr. Pasten’s cancer clinical trials that anti-mesothelin immunotoxins are safe in humans, potentially speeding up their application in other areas.”

###

Co-authors of the study also include: Takahiro Nishio, Xiao Liu, Sara B. Rosenthal, Gen Yamamoto, Hiroaki Fuji, Jacopo Baglieri, David A. Brenner, UC San Diego; Yukinori Koyama, Kojiro Taura, Kyoto University; Na Li, UC San Diego and Shangai University of Medicine and Health Sciences; Laura N. Brenner, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Keiko Iwaisako, Doshisha University; James S. Hagood, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Nicholas F. LaRusso, Mayo Clinic; and Tapan K. Bera, National Cancer Institute/NIH.

Media Contact
Heather Buschman
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2101270118

Tags: BiologyBiotechnologyCell BiologyGeneticsLiverMedicine/HealthMolecular BiologyPharmaceutical Sciences
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Unveiling Archaeoniscus brodiei: Early Cretaceous Isopod Insights

August 25, 2025
Assessing Runting Causes and Impacts in Poultry Hatcheries

Assessing Runting Causes and Impacts in Poultry Hatcheries

August 25, 2025

Post-Fire Growth Insights of Cyathea Mexiae in Brazil

August 25, 2025

Pollinators Use Sight and Smell for Flower Identification

August 25, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    141 shares
    Share 56 Tweet 35
  • Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    134 shares
    Share 54 Tweet 34
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    115 shares
    Share 46 Tweet 29
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    81 shares
    Share 32 Tweet 20

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Unveiling Archaeoniscus brodiei: Early Cretaceous Isopod Insights

Assessing Runting Causes and Impacts in Poultry Hatcheries

Post-Fire Growth Insights of Cyathea Mexiae in Brazil

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.