LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Critical Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRTX) today announced that new preclinical research demonstrating a role in chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease for High Mobility Group Box-1 protein (HMGB1), a pro-inflammatory mediator and nuclear DNA-binding protein, will be published in the May 2007 issue of Nature Immunology. The publication demonstrates that HMGB1 is part of DNA complexes that can stimulate immune cells to produce potent inflammatory mediators, which in turn can contribute to the inflammatory pathology of autoimmune disease. The work adds to the growing body of literature regarding the pro-inflammatory activity of HMGB1 and indicates a potentially important role for this protein in chronic inflammatory disease as well as in severe, acute systemic inflammatory disease, such as sepsis.
