Christine Fillmore Brainson, PhD
University of Kentucky Research Foundation
Research Project:
Targeting Lung Fibrosis with Epigenetic Therapy
Grant Awarded:
- Innovation Award
Research Topics:
- basic biologic mechanisms
- combination therapies experimental therapeutics
- gene expression transcription
- pathology
Research Diseases:
- interstitial lung disease
- occupational lung disease
- pulmonary fibrosis
Funded by the James and Marlene Ryan Innovation Award
Lung fibrosis is a progressive, incurable disease with few treatment options. Our research involves epigenetics, the study of how behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way genes work. Drugs that regulate epigenetic changes, or ‘epi-drugs,’ may be useful in treating lung fibrosis. We will investigate whether targeting the epigenetic enzyme EZH2 using the FDA-approved drug tazemetostat would be a viable therapeutic option for lung fibrosis patients. In order to test our hypotheses, we will use a mixture of innovative organoid cell cultures, patient samples and well-established mouse models of lung fibrosis. We will examine three different cell types that are known to be involved in the fibrotic process. This research will not only test the utility of the new drug at combating lung fibrosis, but will also expand our knowledge about how epi-drugs can influence other types of lung disease.
Update:
Our data show that an inhibitor of the epigenetic protein EZH2 is a promising way to intervene in the process of pulmonary fibrosis in both mouse models and human cells. In the mouse model, treating with EZH2 inhibitor after exposure to the chemotherapy drug bleomycin was able to significantly reduce fibrotic areas in the lungs, improved lung function, and rescued changes to the immune cells. We hope that these data will support investigation of EZH2 inhibition, which is FDA-approved for certain cancers, to prevent or reverse pulmonary fibrosis. During the next year, we will solidify these findings and test the mechanisms through which EZH2 reduces fibrosis.
Page last updated: September 17, 2024
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