Arginase Found to Be Good Target for Asthma Therapy

Researchers into the molecular basis for asthma have identified a group of 219 "signature genes” involved in the development of both asthma and some allergic diseases, with arginase in particular appearing to be a good target for therapy.

Investigators at Children's Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati, OH, USA) obtained lung tissue from mice with experimental models of asthma induced by different allergens. The tissues were analyzed by DNA microarray techniques. Lung tissue from asthmatic mice differed from that of normal animals by altered expression in 6.5% of the genome (representing 219 separate genes).

"Each gene may represent a target for drug development,” explained senior author Dr. Marc Rothenberg, director of allergy and immunology at Children's Hospital Medical Center. "But one gene in particular, arginase, regulates pathways that we think are critical in an asthmatic reaction. Regardless of the specific allergen, arginase seems to be involved. We hope to come up with a treatment for asthma by targeting arginase.”

The findings were published in the July 2003 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. "With the publishing of these results, the asthma signature genes will now become available to the public over the worldwide web,” said Dr. Rothenberg. "It is our hope that the release of these results will fuel the pharmaceutical industry, as well as other researchers, to take new approaches in asthma research.”