Probe highlights hyperactive immune cells to help detect, treat certain cancers and autoimmune diseases



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West Lafayette, Ind., March 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – One of the frustrations of doctors and patients struggling with certain cancers and autoimmune diseases is that they know the cause but do not know how to reduce it. the effects on the body. .

An index can be found with the immunoproteasome, a protein complex present in some types of cancers, such as colorectal cancer, colon and bad. It is also present in autoimmune diseases where cells have encountered a pro-inflammatory signal by which the body's immune cells begin to attack and destroy themselves. Identifying and reducing this autoimmune response is an ongoing challenge for health professionals.

"The types of cells that will express the immunoprotestome are well understood," said Darci Trader, badistant professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Purdue University. College of Pharmacy, who leads the research team. "How his activity can be disrupted to affect the disease is not."

Trader and she Purdue University The team designed a new probe to monitor and label cells expressing immunoproteases.

Current probes are ineffective for monitoring the activity of the immunoproteasome in living cells because they are poorly permeable to cells and can be easily degraded by other cell proteases. The work is published in the March 20 edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

"Having a selective probe of immunoproteases that can work in living cells allows faster reading of how small molecules affect the activity of the immunoproteasome," Trader said. "We are going to use our new immunoprotestoma probe to discover small molecules that will help improve the immune system response in people with cancers, infections and autoimmune diseases."

In case of cancer or infections, the goal is a faster response of the immune system. In the case of autoimmune diseases, the goal is to reduce the response of the immune system. As the probe emits fluorescence indicating that the immunoprotease is present, the identification of small molecules could lead to an increase or decrease in the immune system response to better serve the patient.

Trader said they were also working to test the probe's ability to detect the immunoprotease, and then use it as a vehicle for releasing drugs to treat cancer and others. diseases. They are studying in particular the use of prodrugs, biologically inactive compounds selectively producing drug effects depending on how they were created.

Their work aligns with Purdue's Giant Leaps Celebrate global advances in health as part of Purdue's 150th Anniversary. Health is one of the four themes of the one-year celebration Ideas Festival, designed to introduce Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world problems.

Trader worked with the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization patent several technologies to help monitor and treat diseases. His research team is looking for additional partners and researchers.

About Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization
the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization manages one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the United States. The services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the academic activities of the university. The office is run by the Purdue Research Foundation, winner of the 2016 Innovation Award for Innovation and Economic Prosperity of Universities awarded by the Association of Public and Concession Universities. For more information on Purdue innovation-based startups and financing opportunities, contact the Purdue Foundry at the address. [email protected]. For more information about a Purdue innovation license, contact the Office of Technology Marketing at the address [email protected]. the Purdue Research Foundation is a private non-profit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University.

Writer: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, [email protected]
Source: Darci Trader, [email protected]
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