Feinstein Institutes researcher discovers potential therapeutic target for letha… – Press Release

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The sepsis study, led by Haichao Wang, PhD, was recently published in the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s journal, Science Advances

Sepsis is a silent and mysterious killer that makes up nearly a quarter of deaths worldwide. This disease often leads to shock and multiple organ failure, and because of its enigmatic features, researchers are looking at ways to combat it headfirst. Scientists from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research recently published in Science Advances the discovery of a novel protein that could be a potential therapeutic target for lethal sepsis.

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Dr. Haichao Wang led the study published in Science Advances. (Credit: Feinstein Institutes)

Affecting nearly 50 million people worldwide, sepsis occurs when the body’s immune system triggers excessive inflammation in an attempt to help fight against infections. If out of control, this inflammatory response can also cause damage to multiple organ systems and often leads to death. Other than adjunctive use of antibiotics, fluid resuscitation and supportive care, effective therapies to treat sepsis are lacking.

The new study, led by Feinstein Institutes’ Haichao Wang, PhD, focuses on finding protein mediators that may contribute to uncontrolled immune responses to lethal infections. This research explores the identification of monoclonal antibodies that work against a pro-inflammatory protein mediator, procathepsin-L (pCTS-L), as the potential remedy. These anti-pCTS-L monoclonal antibodies may provide effective therapies for the clinical treatment of human sepsis and other infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

Dr. Wang and his team were able to generate a panel of pCTS-L-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies that effectively reduced pro-inflammatory activities of pCTS-L in human immune cell cultures, and rescued mice from lethal sepsis.

“Sepsis…

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