The National Institutes of Health awarded $2.79 million dollar grant over five years to Penn Dental Medicine professor Shuying Yang (left) and Bioengineering professor Michael Mitchell (right) for their research on a rheumatoid arthritis treatment. (Photos from Penn Engineering and Penn Dental Medicine).
The National Institutes of Health awarded a five-year, $2.79 million grant to Shuying Yang, professor of anatomy and cell biology, and professor of bioengineering Michael Mitchell for their research on a new rheumatoid arthritis treatment.
Yang and Mitchell’s research focuses on Inositol polyphosphate-5-phosphatase E, which has a critical role in neurological function and the immune system. They have found that increasing INPP5E expression reduced inflammation and bone destruction, which could potentially protect against RA.
RA is a disease in which the immune system attacks the body’s tissues. RA affects approximately 1% of the world population and can cause severe damage to the joints and chronic pain and also affects organs such as the heart, lungs, and eyes.
According to the School of Dental Medicine news release, current RA treatments are ineffective for up to 40% of patients, with some biological therapies causing patients to become resistant to treatments.
“There is an urgent need for more effective treatments that target the underlying mechanisms of RA,” Yang said in the news release.
To take advantage of INPP5E’s protective effect, Yang and Mitchell developed a targeted drug delivery system with lipid nanoparticles. These particles are able to deliver INPP5E mRNA directly to cells in the tissues of joints.
“This approach offers a breakthrough in RA treatment by enhancing precision in drug delivery and maximizing anti-inflammatory effects,” Yang said. “Our targeted mRNA therapy not only inhibits key inflammatory pathways, but also mitigates bone erosion, presenting a dual therapeutic benefit.”
Yang joined the University in 2016, previously serving as a professor in the Department of Oral Biology at SUNY at Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine. Her research has primarily focused on bone development, metabolism, and gene/stem cell therapy for bone diseases.
Mitchell's research focuses on developing drug delivery technology, using biomaterials and nanoparticles to deliver nucleic acids, improve immunotherapy, and target genes and proteins involved in cancer.
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