Photo Courtesy of College of Chemistry
The College of Chemistry is pleased to announce that Assistant Professors of Chemistry Ziyang Zhang and Robert Saxton were recently awarded a $1M grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation’s Research Program.
The project aims to develop a method to discover small molecules that can modulate cytokine receptors, which could provide powerful new tools to control how immune cells communicate.
To understand why this is significant, it's important to understand how immune cells communicate in the body. They use special proteins called cytokines. These proteins act like messengers, coordinating all aspects of the immune system's work, and are crucial for protecting us from infections. When these cytokines do not function properly, they contribute to diseases like chronic inflammation, autoimmune disorders, and cancer.
Scientists have made significant strides in developing treatments by targeting certain proteins involved in cell signaling. But when it comes to cytokines and how they signal immune cells, it's tough to create small molecules that can effectively interact with these proteins outside of cells.
The success of this project could help our understanding of immune responses and lead to innovative new treatments.