The research, by scientists at Cardiff University and the University of Wales College of Medicine (UWCM), and funded mainly by the Wellcome Trust, is designed to tackle the problem of chronic inflammation – which can lead to serious disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and bacterial peritonitis.
Now a two-year development programme is getting under way to check the therapeutic potential of this new protein in the management of acute infection, to enable pharmaceutical and biotech companies to create a product for clinical use.
The development programme is made possible thanks to a groundbreaking investment by the Universities' seed fund, the Cardiff Partnership Fund, and Catalyst Biomedica Limited.
Together, they have invested 350,000 UK pounds in the development project, which has resulted from an on-going collaboration between Cardiff School of Biosciences at Cardiff University and the Institute for Nephrology at UWCM.
Dr Simon Jones, based in Cardiff School of Biosciences and Dr Nicholas Topley, in the Institute for Nephrology have been jointly investigating the biology of inflammation for several years.
"Inflammation occurs naturally and is crucial to clear infection and repair tissue after damage," explained Dr Jones. "But if the process goes wrong, it can lead to disorders such as colitis, rheumatoid arthritis and bacterial peritonitis."