When we think of treating lung diseases, sugar doesn’t immediately come to mind.
But researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are turning this idea on its head with a groundbreaking approach.
A Novel Active Ingredient: RCS-21
Professor Stefan Engelhardt and his team at TUM have been focused on creating a treatment to curb the harmful effects of overactive immune cells, specifically macrophages, in lung diseases such as COVID-19.
Macrophages, when overstimulated, can cause severe lung inflammation and even scarring.
The team’s answer is RCS-21, a special RNA-based ingredient. This ingredient has a specific job: to quiet down a molecule called microRNA 21.
This molecule has been identified as one of the main culprits for making macrophages hyperactive during intense lung infections.
Sweet Delivery: How Sugar Molecules Play a Part
But how do you ensure that this ingredient gets to where it’s needed most effectively? The answer lies in sugar.
Macrophages have a knack for detecting and destroying harmful invaders in our lungs, like bacteria. They recognize these invaders by looking for specific sugar molecules on their surfaces.
Stefan Engelhardt observed that macrophages have a unique set of receptors that recognize these sugars, and these receptors are primarily found only on macrophages.
So, the team had a clever idea. They attached RCS-21 to a sugar molecule called trimannose. By doing this, when the treatment is inhaled, the macrophages quickly and efficiently absorb the active ingredient, almost like bees to honey.
And the best part? Other cells, which don’t need this treatment, simply ignore it.
Promising Results and Looking Ahead
The results have been impressive. In tests on mice, the team found that the RCS-21 treatment reduced the harmful microRNA 21 molecule by over half compared to mice that didn’t get the treatment.
Furthermore, lung inflammation and scarring were significantly lowered.
Even in laboratory samples of human lung tissue infected with the virus causing COVID-19, the SARS-CoV-2, RCS-21 stopped the overactivity of microRNA-21.
The next steps involve ensuring this treatment is safe for humans, with the first clinical trials expected to kick off in 2024. Overseeing these developments is RNATICS, a company that emerged from TUM.
Engelhardt, also a co-founder of RNATICS, is optimistic. He believes their innovative use of sugar molecules in delivering RNA-based treatments, especially to the lungs, opens up a world of possibilities for future drugs.
If all goes well, we might witness a surge in new, effective treatments in the coming years.
If you care about lung health, please read studies about marijuana’s effects on lung health, and why some non-smokers get lung disease and some heavy smokers do not.
For more information about lung health, please see recent studies about how to minimize lung damage in COVID patients, and results showing this existing drug can save damaged lungs in COVID-19.
The study was published in Nature Communications.
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