Apr 18, 2011 11:45 GMT  ·  By

A renowned researcher was recently able to discover the existence of a molecule that apparently plays a critical role in remodeling human airways. The finding is tremendously important, as it could lead to the development of new drugs against conditions such as chronic asthma.

The molecule was discovered by a team of experts at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, in California. The group was led by investigator Michael Croft, PhD, and details of the work appear in the April 17 issue of the top journal Nature Medicine.

According to the expert and his team, the LIGHT molecule is a major trigger for airway remodeling in the human body. Using this in developing new drugs could result in therapies that can also be used on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other lung disorders as well.

This is the second time that Dr. Croft makes an important breakthrough in treating asthma. He also managed to discover a molecular mechanism that is heavily involved in underlying lung inflammation.

A drug developed to harness the mechanism is now being assessed in Phase II human clinical trials.

“Dr. Croft's continued efforts to uncover the cellular pathways influencing asthma and other lung disorders have produced remarkable results,” explains the president and chief scientific officer of the La Jolla Institute, Mitchell Kronenberg, PhD.

“He is a researcher of the highest caliber and I believe his discoveries will someday improve the lives of millions of people around the world,” the official goes on to say. The Nature Medicine paper is called “The tumor necrosis factor family member LIGHT is a target for asthmatic airway remodeling.”

The research was carried out using mouse models of chronic asthma, and the researchers determined that blocking the normal interactions between LIGHT and its two receptors has significant effects in reducing remodeling.

In this context, remodeling refers to the inflammation that is promoted inside airways when an asthma attack occurs. When LIGHT could not bind to its receptors, the amount of inflammation was reduced by a huge margin,.

Considering that asthma currently affects around 20 million Americans (of which about 9 million are children), the new investigation could have far-reaching consequences. It costs the US healthcare system about $14 billion per year to handle all these individuals.

“We hypothesized that LIGHT might be involved in driving aspects of lung inflammation or have a role in lung dysfunction that was different than our previous findings on OX40L,” Dr. Croft explains.

“As we were undertaking our studies, a report found that increased sputum LIGHT levels in people with asthma correlated with decreased lung function, which was in line with our thinking,” he adds.