Recently, researchers have found a new way to stop inflammations in its tracks.
The finding may contribute to new drugs for treating chronic inflammatory diseases.
The team examined the formation of a protein complex called the inflammasome that can drive inflammation.
The inflammasome can protect our bodies from infection but is also a key driver of unhealthy inflammation.
When the inflammasome is not turned off, inflammation can become damaging and lead to chronic diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and asthma.
In previous research, the team had found a small molecule MCC950 could inhibit the inflammasome.
In the current study, the found that MCC950 could bind directly to the inflammasome and turning off inflammation.
The new discovery explains how scientists could stop inflammation at the molecular level.
The team hopes that the inflammasome inhibitors can be used to develop new anti-inflammatory drugs in the future.
The lead author of the study is Rebecca Coll, a Lecturer at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast.
The research was conducted by a team from the University of Queensland.
The study is published in Nature Chemical Biology.
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