A recent study has shown that there is a poorly understood protein, heparanase (HPSE), that is in fact a key regulator of cellular innate defence systems. High levels of HPSE are linked to cancer metastasis.
Cellular innate defence systems are an array of built-in mechanisms that are common to species throughout evolution. These can be spurred into action by the presence of pathogens or environmental toxins and dysfunctional cells that may build up over time in the body. A clearer understanding of the interplay between these different processes has the potential to open up a whole new range of multi-target drugs to treat a wide range of conditions and diseases.
Researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) used a systems approach to track changes in important components in cells and mice that have been genetically engineered to lack HPSE.
In this collaborative multidisciplinary study, Agelidis and coauthors for the first time demonstrated that HPSE is a mediator for antiviral immunity, proliferative signals and cell death.
“HPSE has been long known to drive late-stage inflammatory diseases yet it was once thought that this was primarily due to enzymatic activity of the protein breaking down heparan sulfate, a sugar molecule present in chains on the surface of virtually all cells,” Agelidis said.
While their study largely focussed on mechanisms of pathogenesis of herpes simplex virus (HSV-1), these findings hold a range of implications for treating diseases that involve the dysregulation of HPSE, including cancer, atherosclerosis and autoimmune disorders.
Source: Medical Xpress
Journal information: Alex Agelidis et al, Disruption of innate defense responses by endoglycosidase HPSE promotes cell survival, JCI Insight (2021). DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.144255
