October 25, 2001
Cause of Scarring in Cirrhosis Identified
By Merritt McKinney
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Scientists in the US and the UK have
identified a bit of a protein that
causes excess scarring in the liver disease cirrhosis and other
illnesses.
By altering the protein, the researchers were able to block the
formation of excess scar tissue in mice.
The research eventually may lead to improved treatment for cirrhosis and
the many other types of
disease that involve the growth of fibrous tissue, the study's lead
author told Reuters Health.
After an injury, fibrous tissue develops to form a scar. Sometimes too
much scar tissue forms,
however. In the case of cirrhosis, for example, excess scar tissue
eventually may prevent the liver from
working properly.
But the hazards of excess fibrous tissue are not limited to liver
disease, according to the study's lead
author, Dr. Martina Buck from the University of California, San Diego.
By some estimates, excess
fibrous tissue is a major factor in 50% of all medical conditions in the
US, she told Reuters Health.
Buck said that tissue fibrosis can occur in many organs besides the
liver, such as the lungs, kidney and
skin.
Fibrous tissue also accumulates in the vessel-blocking plaques that form
in people with artery disease,
Buck said. She added that fibrous tissue can also cause further
deterioration in patients who have
suffered a head injury or who have Alzheimer's or PARKINSON'S disease.
"This research offers therapeutic hope for these diseases,'' she said.
Buck and her colleagues discovered that a section of a protein called
C/EBP-beta is responsible for
the growth of fibrous tissue after an injury or illness.
In their report, published in the October 26th issue of the journal
Molecular Cell, the researchers
explain that the process begins when the injury or illness triggers a
phosphorous molecule to link to an
amino acid called KTVD, which is part of the C/EBP-beta protein. This in
turn causes KTVD to block
the enzymes that normally keep the growth of fibrous tissue in check.
But when Buck's team performed a single switch--turning KTVD into
KAVD--they were able to
block the formation of excess scar tissue in mice.
KAVD seemed safe in mice, so it may be possible to develop an oral or
inhaled drug to treat cirrhosis
and other diseases that involve excess scarring, according to the
researchers.
SOURCE: Molecular Cell 2001;8.
Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited.
Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc.
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