According to a report published in March 10, 2011 issue of Science, scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have developed a protein molecule from the growth factor progranulin that could offer cures for inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis.
Chuan-ju Liu, PhD, associate professor and lead researcher at the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Cell Biology, Langone Medical Center, stated that the research has revealed considerable effects on inflammatory diseases.
Research in rheumatology has until now identified cytokines, which are cell-signaling protein molecules released by glial cells in the nervous and immune system and cause intercellular communication, promote inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis. The ATSTTRIN molecule, which resists TNF/TNFR signaling through targeting to TNF receptors, is a peptide designed from parts of proteins that come from a cell. This cell binds to tumor necrosis factor receptors (TNFR).
According to the researchers, the protein could offer optional forms of treatment to patients suffering from chronic rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, plaque psoriasis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's diseases and ankylosing spondylitis.
Source: http://www.nyu.edu/