Researchers Discover Previously Unknown Role of BioAegis’ Therapeutic Gelsolin as Key Signaling Protein Vital for Regulating Immune Cell Inflammatory Response
This biological phenomenon, quorum sensing in macrophages, regulates the transition of cells from inflammatory to healing phenotype.
NORTH BRUNSWICK, New Jersey, Sept. 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioAegis Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage, private company developing therapies for infectious, inflammatory, and degenerative diseases based on a portfolio built around gelsolin technology, announced that a previously unknown role of gelsolin in a signaling system in macrophages was published in the Journal of Immunology.
Researchers have detected a biological phenomenon called quorum sensing in macrophages. The paper, Quorum Sensing by Gelsolin Regulates Programmed Cell Death 4 Expression and a Density-Dependent Phenotype in Macrophages, was recently published in the Journal of Immunology.
Quorum Sensing is a Complex Inter-cellular Signaling System
Quorum-sensing, a property associated with cell density and well-known in bacteria for decades has now been discovered in macrophages, innate immune cells responsible for addressing infectious and non-infectious threats. These cells are able to detect their population density and respond by either increasing or decreasing their activity. This property guides the transition of the macrophage from an Inflammatory (M1) to an Anti-inflammatory (M2) phenotype. The study shows that plasma gelsolin (pGSN) controls this process by regulating the expression of a protein known as Programmed Cell Death 4 (PCD4). Secreted pGSN is the quorum sensor in high-density macrophages and shifts the macrophage phenotype from M1 to M2. These findings are consistent with the anti-inflammatory effectiveness seen with BioAegis’ recombinant human plasma gelsolin (rhu-pGSN) treatment in a wide range of animal models of inflammatory disease and adds to the understanding of how gelsolin can be anti-inflammatory without being immunosuppressive.
"There are many layers to the science underlying gelsolin's role as a master regulator in immunity. The more we learn about this key signaling protein, the more we look forward to bringing rhu-pGSN to patients,” commented Dr. Susan Levinson, CEO of BioAegis.
Supplementing Gelsolin is a Host-directed Approach to Treating COVID-19 and Other Inflammatory Diseases
Gelsolin, a naturally occurring human protein that is abundant in healthy individuals, is a key component of the body’s innate immune system. It is a ‘master regulator of inflammation’. In the case of severe injury or infection, the body’s supply of gelsolin becomes depleted, which can lead to an overexuberant inflammatory response, organ damage, and death, as seen in COVID-19 and other conditions. Supplementing depleted systemic levels of gelsolin with recombinant gelsolin has enormous potential to prevent debilitating and potentially lethal ravages of inflammation, without suppressing the immune response to infection or the body’s ability to repair. Most current anti-inflammatory products, like steroids, work by suppressing immune function, putting patients at risk for subsequent infections and adverse events.
BioAegis is currently evaluating data from its Phase 2 clinical study of recombinant human plasma gelsolin (rhu-pGSN) added to standard of care for treatment of patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia.
A recent compassionate use case, Recombinant Human Plasma Gelsolin (rhu-pGSN) in a Patient Hospitalized with Critical COVID-19 Pneumonia, was published in Clinical Infection in Practice.
BioAegis Is Developing Gelsolin to Disrupt the Course of Inflammatory Diseases
BioAegis Therapeutics Inc. is a NJ-based clinical stage, private company whose mission is to capitalize on a key component of the body’s innate immune system, gelsolin, to prevent adverse outcomes in diseases driven by inflammation and infection. With the ability to replete gelsolin depleted by disease, BioAegis is in a unique position to deliver therapeutics that have the potential to disrupt the way many diseases are treated today.
BioAegis has the exclusive license to broad, worldwide intellectual property through Harvard-Brigham and Women’s Hospital. It holds over 40 patents issued for coverage of infection, inflammatory disease, renal failure, multiple sclerosis and other neurologic diseases. BioAegis will also have US biologics exclusivity and has recently filed new IP in areas of unmet need.
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scordovano@bioaegistx.com
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This press release contains express or implied forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations of management. These statements relate to, among other things, our expectations regarding management’s plans, objectives, and strategies. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. BioAegis assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements appearing in this press release in the event of changing circumstances or otherwise, and such statements are current only as of the date they are made.
