Children’s National urologist receives NIH grant to exploit parasite-derived protein as possible alternative to opioids
The five year R01 grant will help researchers use targeted and random methods to generate mutant forms of IPSE, and test their ability to alleviate bladder pain
February 10, 2017
WASHINGTON – Children’s National Health System Urologist Michael Hsieh, M.D., was awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to optimize a set of parasite proteins that could alleviate pain in multiple types of bladder inflammation.
The $1 million R01 grant will fund a five-year study to exploit a parasite-derived protein, IPSE, as a candidate therapeutic. Dr. Hsieh hypothesizes that IPSE may have the ability to modulate host immune and non-immune responses to bladder injury. IPSE could be optimized for therapeutic potential, while minimizing toxicity, by generating forms that have the ability to modulate host responses via three distinct mechanisms: IL-4-binding, chemokine-binding and nuclear localization.
“Painful bladder syndromes affect up to 40 percent of patients and effective therapies do not exist for many of these patients,” says Dr. Hsieh. “In the past, our research focused on understanding pathogens and their interaction with other agents. Now, we are turning the biology on its head and using them to eliminate pain.”
Using what is already known about the sequence and structure of IPSE, Dr. Hsieh and his research team will use targeted and random methods to generate mutant forms of IPSE, and test their ability to alleviate bladder pain. The team will also screen these mutants for low toxicity in various tests. The long-term goal is to develop IPSE as a possible alternative to opioids for treating pain in general, which would greatly expand its therapeutic potential.
Dr. Hsieh joins a very small group of seven pediatric urologists in the country who received the R01, the oldest grant mechanism used by NIH. Dr. Hsieh and his team will collaborate with Theodore Jardetzky, professor of structural biology at Stanford University, and Franco Falcone, associate professor in allergy and infectious diseases, Faculty of Science at University of Nottingham in the U.K.
Contact: Hani Ukayli | 301-244-6714 | [email protected]
About Children's National Health System
Children’s National Health System, based in Washington, D.C., has served the nation’s children since 1870. Children’s National is one of the nation’s Top 5 pediatric hospitals and, for a second straight year, is ranked No. 1 in newborn care, as well as ranked in all specialties evaluated by U.S. News & World Report. It has been designated two times as a Magnet® hospital, a designation given to hospitals that demonstrate the highest standards of nursing and patient care delivery. This pediatric academic health system offers expert care through a convenient, community-based primary care network and specialty outpatient centers in the D.C. Metropolitan area, including the Maryland suburbs and Northern Virginia. Home to the Children’s Research Institute and the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, Children’s National is the seventh-highest NIH-funded pediatric institution in the nation. Children’s National is recognized for its expertise and innovation in pediatric care and as a strong voice for children through advocacy at the local, regional and national levels.
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