New targets revealed for the treatment of inflammatory conditions

Research by the
University of Bristol has shed light on the way our clotting cells and immune
cells control their interactions with each other.

The findings could
lead to the development of new treatments for inflammatory diseases such as
inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.

University
researchers studied how two molecular switches, RalA and RalB, control the
release of bioactive molecules from platelets, our cells that control blood
clotting. The findings reveal a novel role for RalA and RalB in controlling how
platelets interact with white blood cells (leukocytes), our immune cells, and
contribute to inflammation.

It is hoped that
the study, published in Arteriosclerosis,
Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, will lead to the development of
new medicines to target RalA and RalB for the treatment of a range of
inflammatory conditions.

Lead author and PhD
student in the Poole Group, part of Bristol Platelet Group, Andreas Wersäll
commented:

“Platelets are often thought of as nothing more than cells which
stop us bleeding when we cut ourselves. This couldn’t be further from the truth
and this study showcases the complexity of these small cells as well as a
previously unknown signalling pathway within them. I’m hopeful that the
findings will lead to further research into this area of platelet function and
the development of new treatments for platelet-mediated inflammatory
conditions.”

The study was
funded by the British Heart Foundation and performed in collaboration with KWS
Biotest.

Paper

‘Mouse platelet Ral GTPases control P-selection surface expression, regulatingplatelet-leukocyte interaction’ by Andreas Wersäll, Chris M. Williams,
Edward Brown, Tommaso Iannitti, Neil Williams and Alastair W.Poole in
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.