Because of its link to many age-related diseases, there’s growing interest among pharmaceutical and biotech companies to find new targets involved in inflammation that could lead to novel anti-inflammatory drugs. But while the symptoms of inflammation in disease are well known, scientists still do not fully understand the biological mechanisms behind it.
Now, researchers at Virginia Tech and their collaborators have identified key cellular functions that help regulate inflammation – a discovery that could have important implications for drug development. The findings, published in the journal Structure, explain how two proteins in particular, called Tollip and Tom1, work together to trigger inflammation.
Short-term or acute inflammation is a good thing: It’s the body’s natural response after an injury or infection, and it restores normal tissue structure and function. But too much inflammation can be a bad thing.
“At appropriate levels, the inflammatory response protects your body from foreign materials, but if it is not properly regulated it can lead to severe, chronic conditions,” said Daniel Capelluto, an associate professor of biological sciences at Virginia Tech.
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