A human protein that triggers an inflammatory reaction
FHR1 worsens the prognosis of patients with chronic blood vessel damage
FungiNet PIs Christine Skerka, Berit Jungnickel (Project C4) and Peter F. Zipfel (Project C6) together with scientists from Jena have identified a human protein that triggers autoinflammatory reactions. Normally, inflammation is part of the natural healing process but it can also lead to illnesses such as chronic inflammatory vasculitis where the sustained inflammation leads to distruction of blood vessels. Such patients show higher levels of FHR1 in their blood and the protein triggers the autoimmune reaction. The Jena researchers recently published their findings in Nature Communications.
Original paper:
Irmscher S, Brix SR, Zipfel SLH, Halder LD, Mutlutürk S, Wulf S, Girdauskas E, Reichenspurner H, Stahl RAK, Jungnickel B, Wiech T, Zipfel PF, Skerka C (2019) Serum FHR1 binding to necrotic-type cells activates monocytic inflammasome and marks necrotic sites in vasculopathies. Nat Commun 10: 2961.
Link to PubMed
