One step closer to controlling the healing process: “It’s like being able to turn on a tap and regulate the collagen you need”

by time news

2024-04-24 09:00:00

Updated Wednesday, April 24, 2024 – 11:00

When an injury occurs, the active organism the process of scaracin to close that injury. Basically, the mechanism consists of the secretion and accumulation of different substances, among which collagen stands out, in the space between the cells. sometimes a Excessive collagen secretion can cause the accumulation of fibrotic tissuewhich can lead to complications, especially if it is generated in an internal organ after, for example, surgery.

Being able to avoid this excess is a little closer thanks to the work of a team from the Center for Genomic Regulation of Barcelona and the University of Cologne (Germany) who has developed an experimental approach aimed at controlling the effects of collagen hypersecretion.

This strategy is based on using small molecules capable of interrupting the interaction between the TANGO1 and cTAGE5 proteins, a key ‘bridge’ in collagen export at the cellular level.

At the moment they have tried the novel strategy in human cells derived from patients and in animal models and have proven that it is effective, reversible and does not produce toxicity. All details have been published in the latest issue of Nature Communications.

Researchers had previously demonstrated the fundamental role of TANGO1 in the release of molecules such as collagen to the outside of the cell, so they had been looking for ways to modulate its action for some time.

“When you undergo surgery, it is incisions necessary that need stitches or other measures to close. And that can cause fibrosis problems, the formation of hard scars in the tissue, a situation that can be serious and even life-threatening,” says Vivek Malhotra, one of the main signatories of the study, ICREA research professor and researcher at the Center of Genomic Regulation (CRG).

On the skin scars they can also generate complications and aesthetic defectswithout at the moment there being sufficiently effective topical treatments to eliminate excess collagen, adds the researcher whose team has devised a strategy to interrupt the interaction between the TANGO1 and cTAGE5 proteins, which work together to export collagen and out of the cell. .

Using peptides designed thanks to artificial intelligence, researchers have been able to precisely inhibit the union between these proteins. And they have shown that the strategy allows controlling collagen export both in zebrafish models and in laboratory experiments with cells from patients with scleroderma, a disease characterized by the formation of fibrosis.

The researchers verified that the effect of applying the strategy was reversible and that, after eliminating the peptides, collagen levels rose again.

“We have shown that we can control the ability of cells to secrete collagen using these biological inhibitors,” says Malhotra, who emphasizes that the goal is not to completely inhibit the secretion of this substance, which is “the cement that holds the cells in a tissue”. If all the release of these substances were blocked, the tissues would not hold up, she recalls.

The researchers now want to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy in pig skin, due to its similarities with human skin, as a preliminary step before reaching clinical trials.

The team is also investigating formulas that not only inhibit collagen secretion, but also promote it in cases where it is necessary, such as in the event of an age-related collagen deficiency.

“The goal is for it to work like the faucet wrench which basically allows you to regulate the amount of water you want to come out. There are moments in life that you want it to come out more and there are moments that you want it to come out less,” he points out.

“We believe this represents a new strategy to control the effects of collagen hypersecretion. This could range from alleviating the cosmetic effects of skin scars to treating autoimmune diseases such as scleroderma, as well as manipulating skin-related events. surgery associated with wound healing prevent fibrosis“says Malhotra, very critical of cosmetic products that today promise to repair or regenerate the skin through mechanisms related to collagen.

“Applying a product on the skin or ingesting it because collagen, that cement that maintains tissues, must be produced by the cells, secreted from within. It does not work if it is administered from the outside; it will not do anything. It is a fallacy” , he concludes.

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