UConn Scientists Develop New Antibody for Bowel Disease

Health – UConn Today


UConn molecular and cell biologist Michael Lynes and an international team of researchers have been awarded a patent for a novel antibody therapeutic that may prove to be safer in the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) than other antibodies currently available.
Existing antibody treatments for IBD are ineffective in some IBD patients and pose a risk to the normal functioning of the immune system.
The new antibody, co-invented by the UConn researchers together with a team from Ghent University in Belgium, is designed to prevent the patient’s immune system from attacking its own body and potentially causing irreversible damage.
More than 1.6 million Americans have IBD. Two of the most common forms of IBD are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, chronic but treatable conditions that affect children and adults. One in 10 people with IBD are under 18, according to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.
More than a decade ago, Lynes, professor and head of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UConn, and his research team discovered a novel and important role that a protein called metallothionein (MT) plays in influencing the body’s immune function. The body produces MT when cells are under stress, and extended periods of stress cause MT to be released from the cells that produced it, Lynes says. MT is an unusual protein that holds onto chemicals in the body – both those that are beneficial, such as zinc and copper, and those that are harmful – such as cadmium and mercury.
Sadikshya Bhandari, a Ph.D. student in molecular and cell biology, ‘passing cells,’ or feeding them, to keep them from overgrowing. (Taylor Hudak ’18 (CLAS, ED)/UConn Photo)While studying MT, Lynes and his research team noticed that MT released from cells could mimic some of the signals that the immune system uses as cues to tell cells to go to one place or ...

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