EU funded projects unravel key enzyme triggering asthma
Researchers working on two EU-funded research projects have unravelled the structure of a key enzyme that can trigger allergies and asthma. The breakthrough, which was published in the leading scientific magazine Nature, opens the possibility of developing more effective therapies for many inflammatory diseases. The enzyme, known as LTC4 synthase, is part of the complex process that leads to the production of leukotrienes (which cause allergic symptoms). The enzyme also motors the inflammatory reaction that causes asthma attacks. Some medicines can block the effect of this enzyme, but only after the process has taken place. The EU-funded teams succeeded in developing the highest ever resolution picture of the structure of the LTC4 synthase. The picture will now enable scientists to better understand how the structure is formed and how it works. It is expected that the findings will help scientists develop new molecules that block LTC4 before it can act. The two projects, called EICOSANOX and E-MeP, are headed by professors from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, including one Nobel Prize winning scientist. Together, the projects received €20 million funding from the EU's Sixth Research Framework Programme (FP6). These projects are part of a series of EU-funded research projects aimed at understanding proteins within the human body, important for both medical knowledge and drug design.