Advantages
- Retinoic acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I) presents a novel therapeutic target for fibrosis.
Technology Overview & Background
Fibrosis, characterized by the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix such as collagen, results in tissue dysfunction. Despite the large number of patient population, effective treatments for fibrosis have been limited. Diverse intracellular signaling pathways are related with fibrosis, posing challenges in identifying suitable therapeutic targets.
Researchers have previously discovered significant inhibitory effects on fibrosis with reovirus, developed as anticancer agents. https://bionauts.jp/?p=658
In liver fibrosis, reovirus are taken up by hepatic stellate cells, exerting a regression of fibrotic effect, including the normalization of cell function such as migration ability, expression of quiescent markers, and fatty storage capacity.
RIG-I, known as a receptor for reovirus, functions as a pattern recognition receptor within the cytoplasm, contributing to the innate immune system. Drug development efforts targeting RIG-I have primarily focused on cancer and infectious diseases, utilizing chemically synthesized dsRNA and small molecules as ligands.
Researchers newly found antifibrotic effect of ligand for RIG-I in this study.
Data
- 3p-hairpin RNA (3p-hpRNA), a dsRNA derived from influenza A sequence, was employed as a ligand for RIG-I.
- 3p-hpRNA markedly reduced gene expression of fibrosis markers such as COL1A1 and ACTA2 in TGF-β activated human liver stellate cells (LX-2), human lung fibroblasts (NHLF, MRC-5) and human skin fibroblasts (NHDF), respectively.
- In vivo experiments are in the planning.
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Patent
- Applied (unpublished)
Principal Investigator & Academic Institution
Prof. Fuminori SAKURAI (Department of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Medicine, Kindai University))
Expectations
TECH MANAGE CORP. is looking for a pharmaceutical company/start-up that is interested in the development of this novel therapeutics for fibrosis. We also welcome collaborations utilizing dsRNA, RIG-I ligands, and delivery technologies belongs to your company.
We can also arrange a meeting with the PI of this invention. Please feel free to contact us with any requests you may have.
Project. TT-04848