• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Thursday, March 30, 2023
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
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
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

Bright SCIdea group shot

UCL team’s life-saving burn treatment wins Bright SCIdea contest

March 30, 2023
Dr Nisha Mendiratta from the Indian Government department of Science and Technology.

Aston University to support gender equality in Indian universities

March 30, 2023

White-tailed deer blood kills bacteria that causes Lyme disease

March 30, 2023

“Fundamental Life Science Meets Climate, Environment and Sustainability: new bridges, new partnerships, new opportunities”

March 30, 2023
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • ChatPandaGPT

    Insilico Medicine brings AI-powered “ChatPandaGPT” to its target discovery platform

    67 shares
    Share 27 Tweet 17
  • Northern and southern resident orcas hunt differently, which may help explain the decline of southern orcas

    44 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 11
  • Skipping breakfast may compromise the immune system

    43 shares
    Share 17 Tweet 11
  • Extinction of steam locomotives derails assumptions about biological evolution

    36 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

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

Follow us

Recent News

UCL team’s life-saving burn treatment wins Bright SCIdea contest

Aston University to support gender equality in Indian universities

White-tailed deer blood kills bacteria that causes Lyme disease

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 48 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

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.

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