Danger Dust - What Else?

Pulmonary sarcoidosis is a lung disease characterized by granulomas—tiny clumps of immune cells that form in response to inflammation. It's the most inflammatory of the interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), a family of conditions that all involve some level of inflammation and fibrosis, or scarring, of the lungs.

In a paper published in Science Translational Medicine, scientists at Scripps Research and aTyr Pharma characterized a protein, HARSWHEP, that can soothe the inflammation associated with sarcoidosis by regulating white blood cells. Reducing inflammation slows the disease's progression and results in less scarring. A Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial of efzofitimod, a therapeutic form of HARSWHEP, showed promising results.

"Taken together, these results validate a new way to approach immune regulation in chronic lung disease," says Paul Schimmel, professor of molecular medicine and chemistry at Scripps Research and the study's senior author.

The drug's power lies in its gentle nature. "It's not a hammer; it's not overly suppressing the immune system. It's just nudging the immune system in a certain way,"