Researchers at Purdue University have made an exciting discovery that could lead to new ways to treat inflammation without harming the body’s natural defense system.
The study, led by Assistant Professor Qing Deng from the Department of Biological Sciences, looked at a special kind of white blood cell called neutrophils.
These cells are important for fighting infections, but when too many of them move into tissues, they can cause too much inflammation and damage the body.
To understand how to control this problem, the researchers studied microRNAs, which are tiny genetic molecules that help control different cell functions.
Their study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that one specific microRNA called miR-199 can help reduce the movement of neutrophils and lower inflammation.
MicroRNAs have become a hot topic in medicine recently because they may help treat diseases like cancer and infections. But until now, not much was known about how they affect neutrophils. The Purdue team used genetic tools to find eight microRNAs that could reduce neutrophil movement. Among them, miR-199 worked the best.
They found that miR-199 targets an enzyme called CDK2, which usually helps cells divide. In this study, miR-199 reduced the activity of CDK2, which slowed down the movement of neutrophils. This is an important discovery because it shows that CDK2 has a new role beyond just helping cells grow—it also helps neutrophils move.
This finding opens the door to creating new treatments that can lower inflammation by stopping neutrophils from moving into tissues, without weakening the immune system. This is important because many current anti-inflammatory drugs can make the immune system less effective, which can lead to more infections.
The study also gives scientists a better understanding of how neutrophils work and could lead to more research on diseases that involve too much inflammation. In the future, the researchers plan to study more about how CDK2 affects neutrophil movement and how this new pathway could be used to treat illnesses like rheumatic arthritis.
This discovery offers hope for better, safer ways to treat inflammation, giving people more options for managing diseases that cause chronic pain and damage to the body.
If you care about health, please read studies that vitamin D can help reduce inflammation, and vitamin K could lower your heart disease risk by a third.
For more health information, please see recent studies about new way to halt excessive inflammation, and results showing foods that could cause inflammation.
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