For decades, scientists have known that allergic asthma is caused by an overactive immune system, but many of the tiny biological switches controlling this process have remained hidden.
Researchers at National Jewish Health have now uncovered one of those switches, offering fresh hope for future asthma treatments.
Their study, published in Science Advances, centers on a protein called CBX7. Until now, CBX7 was believed to mainly help silence genes inside the nucleus of cells.
The new research shows that the protein behaves very differently during allergic asthma. Instead of slowing gene activity, it actually helps drive inflammation. Allergic asthma develops when the immune system reacts too strongly to normally harmless substances such as pollen, animal dander, dust mites, or mold.
Immune cells release chemicals that inflame the airways, making breathing difficult. Repeated inflammation can damage the lungs over time and increase the risk of severe asthma attacks.
Dr. Kapil Sirohi and the research team discovered that allergens activate CBX7. Once turned on, the protein performs two jobs simultaneously.
It acts as a signaling molecule in the cell while also entering the nucleus to help activate genes responsible for producing inflammatory cytokines. These cytokines keep immune cells active, creating a cycle of ongoing inflammation.
When the scientists reduced CBX7 activity, immune cells produced far fewer inflammatory cytokines, suggesting that CBX7 sits near the top of the inflammatory pathway. The study also showed that this process was largely limited to immune cells instead of the cells that form the lining of the airways.
This finding is encouraging because highly targeted medicines often produce fewer unwanted side effects. Current asthma treatments mostly reduce inflammation after it has already developed or relax the muscles around the airways to improve breathing. A medicine that blocks CBX7 could potentially interrupt the inflammatory process much earlier.
However, this possibility remains theoretical for now. The research did not test a new drug, and no patients received CBX7-blocking treatment. Additional laboratory studies, animal experiments, and carefully designed human clinical trials will all be required before any new therapy becomes available.
Overall, the study provides valuable new knowledge about how allergic asthma develops. By identifying an unexpected molecular trigger, it opens an entirely new direction for asthma research and may eventually help scientists design more effective and more precise treatments for millions of people living with the disease.
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Source: National Jewish Health.
