In a new study, researchers have discovered a new method to stop inflammations in its tracks.
The finding may help develop new drugs to treat chronic inflammatory diseases.
The research was conducted by a team from the University of Queensland.
In the study, the team focused on the formation of a protein complex, called the inflammasome, which drives inflammation.
The inflammasome is important in protecting our bodies from infection but is also a key driver of unhealthy inflammation.
When the inflammasome is not switched off, inflammation becomes damaging.
Uncontrolled inflammation results in chronic diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and asthma.
The team previously had found a small molecule MCC950 could inhibit the inflammasome to block inflammation in disease.
In this study, the found that MCC950 binds directly to the inflammasome and inactivates it, turning off inflammation.
The discovery provides new insight into how to stop inflammation at the molecular level. The inflammasome inhibitors may be used to develop new anti-inflammatory drugs.
The lead author of the study is Rebecca Coll, now a Lecturer at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast.
The study is published in the scientific journal Nature Chemical Biology.
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