Blood-Clotting Protein Linked to RA
New research funded by the Arthritis Foundation shows for the first time that fibrin, a protein normally involved in blood clotting, also plays an important role in the inflammatory response and development of rheumatoid arthritis
Fibrin deposits are a prominent feature of arthritic joints, and the protein appears to be a link between systems that control inflammation and bleeding within joints, according to a study published in the November 2007 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Lead author Jay Degen, PhD, and his colleagues explained that in arthritic joints, the mesh-like matrices formed by fibrin to create blood clots may control local activity of inflammatory cells as well as support inappropriate tissue reorganization.
The study suggests that inflammatory disease is driven by the inflammatory cells within fibrin matrices through a specific protein in the plasma membrane called aMB2. If that is so, developing medications that can stop the interaction between fibrin and aMB2 might help treat RA as well as many other inflammatory diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, says Degen, a researcher in developmental biology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. 11/19/07
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