网红黑料

he National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has awarded University of Florida molecular biologist Harry S. Nick, Ph.D., a five-year, $1.6 million grant to continue studying a gene that produces an enzyme key to counteracting inflammation in diseased lung cells.

The enzyme, manganese superoxide dismutase, is a cell鈥檚 primary defense against the harmful action of oxygen molecules known as free radicals, a byproduct of respiration.

鈥淎 number of diseases, such as asthma, are characterized by an acute inflammatory response in the lung,鈥� said Nick, a professor of neuroscience at the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of UF. 鈥淚n addition, people are sometimes placed on high levels of oxygen for therapeutic reasons, but chronic use of the treatment can actually damage the lungs.

鈥淲e鈥檙e studying how the gene is regulated in an effort to find a mechanism to turn it on because when you make more of this enzyme, it鈥檚 protective against inflammation,鈥� he said. 鈥淪omeday we may be able to protect these patients by overexpressing this enzyme or by activating the gene with a drug.鈥�

UF scientists have identified a region of the gene that acts like a light switch, turning on when cellular compounds that promote inflammation are present, Nick said. As the project enters its sixteenth year, they now will search for the proteins responsible for activating the gene. Researchers also will study how it functions in mice in an effort to assess its usefulness as a potential gene therapy tool.