Experts in respiratory medicine have received funding to better understand how mucus is controlled in the lungs and how it contributes to severe asthma.
This could lead to the development of new treatments which would impact millions of people worldwide.
The team of international researchers, led by Professor Ian Sayers in the School of Medicine in the Biodiscovery Institute at the University of Nottingham, have been awarded a £3M Medical Research Council (MRC) Programme Grant.
The group is a collaboration of experts from the Universities of Nottingham, Leicester, Manchester, Leeds, Imperial College London and the biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Asthma is a common lung condition with symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing and chest tightness. Approximately 10% of people with asthma suffer from a severe form of the disease. They may struggle to control their symptoms despite high levels of medications, resulting in a lower quality of life, risk of hospitalisation and even death. New therapies are needed for this group of patients.
The lungs produce the jelly-like substance, mucus, that acts as a gatekeeper controlling access of harmful agents, such as microbes and toxins, into the body by trapping and removing them via the action of airway epithelial cells. However, in asthma, a build-up of mucus with abnormal properties can plug the airways, making symptoms worse, which is known as an exacerbation.
The framework of mucus is provided by large molecules called mucins. In the lung there are two types of mucin (MUC5AC and MUC5B). This group of researchers, along with others, have already shown that MUC5AC is increased in airway mucus in asthma. Importantly, they have identified genetic changes near the genes encoding MUC5AC and MUC5B that alter the levels of these genes and affect the risk of severe asthma.
This funding from the MRC provides an outstanding opportunity to bring together international leaders in respiratory research to tackle this terrible disease. We are employing state-of-the-art techniques spanning biology and physics to understand the mechanisms that control how mucus is regulated in our airways, how it contributes to severe asthma and how we might target it for therapeutic benefit."
