Chronic or acute inflammation can contribute to a range of ailments - some potentially deadly - including stroke, respiratory and heart disease, cancer, arthritis, asthma, dementia, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes. In May, a study by Dr Kate Lawlor and collaborator Professor Vince James (WEHI) published in Nature Communications shed light on the potential triggers of inflammation.
The research focused on the cytokine, interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), which is critical to clearing infections but is also associated with sepsis and driving autoinflammatory and inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, Type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerosis.
Previous IL-1ß research had focused on understanding how it is triggered and how inhibiting this process or neutralising IL-1ß could reduce inflammation. However, little was known about how the precursor IL-1ß protein is regulated.
Inflammatory disease treatments
The team discovered a key event that contributes to the depletion of inactive IL-1ß and limits access to the enzyme that activates IL-1ß. The potential trigger of inflammation discovery is a major step in understanding how IL-1ß levels could be manipulated to limit inflammatory responses and developing treatments for diseases associated with excessive inflammation.
Collaborators | Monash University; University of Melbourne; WEHI
Funders | National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
