Researchers receive grants to uncover fundamental causes of lupus

The Lupus Research Institute has announced two recipients of its 2013 Distinguished Innovator Award, which provides private grants for novel lupus research.

David Tarlinton, PhD, at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Australia, and Kenneth Smith, MD, PhD, of University of Cambridge, UK, will be awarded up to $1 million to conduct studies that can advance the search for a cure to lupus by uncovering its fundamental causes, according to a press release. Tarlinton’s study explores new ways to kill the cells responsible for producing autoantibodies that damage tissue and organs in lupus. Smith’s research focuses on an approach to predicting lupus outcome that has the potential to reveal new ways to stop disease progression.

The plasma cells that produce disease-causing antibodies in lupus are the target of Tarlinton’s study. Normally these cells’ life span is controlled by a protein inside them called Lyn. “In lupus, harmful plasma cells survive, possibly due to abnormally low levels of Lyn,” the release said. Tarlinton will seek drug candidates that can mimic the effects of Lyn to remove the plasma cells.

Smith’s project focuses on lupus patients who develop more severe disease in which a distinctive pattern of genes is turned on in their white blood cells, according to the release. Smith and colleagues will study whether the gene pattern can be effective as a practical test for long-term lupus prognosis, which would allow for safer and more effective personalized treatment. While searching for new treatment strategies, the researchers seek the causes of the gene pattern.

“With the Distinguished Innovator grants, these two outstanding investigators have the opportunity to pursue potential new areas in lupus research that may strike at the root causes of [systemic lupus erythematosus],” William Paul, MD, LRI Scientific Advisory Board chairman, said in the release. “Drs. Tarlinton and Smith bring exciting new concepts to the causes of lupus; the knowledge emerging from their work has the potential to accelerate the drive toward therapies that can stop and reverse the progression of the disease.”