Breakthrough in understanding of blood vessel inflammationJanuary 19, 2004Medical scientists at the University of Leicester have announced a breakthrough in their understanding of blood vessel inflammation - a serious condition which underlies health problems like organ failure in sepsis, the ability to recover from burns, and transplant rejection. The team in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Leicester announced the new development in the December issue of the medical journal Blood. Funded by the Wellcome Trust and led by Dr Nick Brindle, senior lecturer, the team was responsible for discovering a new protein three years ago- but have only now been able to establish the new mechanism by which blood vessel inflammation is controlled. Dr Brindle said: "The protein is called ABIN-2 and it appears to suppress expression of inflammatory genes in vascular cells and block inflammation in blood vessels. "Blood vessel inflammation underlies a range of serious health problems. In extreme cases, vascular inflammation is accompanied by cell death and regression of vessels, often with fatal consequences. "We have now found ABIN-2 also increases vascular cell survival and inhibits apoptotic vascular cell death. There is still much work to be done before the new mechanism is completely understood. Nevertheless, the discovery of ABIN-2 and its role in inhibiting vessel inflammation and vascular death opens up a new opportunity for development of ways to treat some life threatening conditions." The University medical team now hopes to define exactly how ABIN-2 works and identify ways in which this mechanism can be activated therapeutically. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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