Dr. Saira Sheikh, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Director of Clinical Trials at the 黑料网 Thurston Arthritis Research Center, and Director of the 黑料网 Rheumatology Lupus Clinic; Dr. Leslie Parise, 黑料网 Professor and Chair of Biochemistry and Biophysics; and EpiCypher, a biotechnology company located in Research Triangle Park, N.C., have received an NIH Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I grant to commercialize development of novel assays to study PAD4 activity.
PAD4-dependent conversion of arginine to citrulline on nucleosomes is pathophysiological and associated with many diseases, including inflammation and autoimmune disease. Thus, PAD4 is a valuable drug target and nucleosome citrullination is a promising blood-accessible biomarker. However, current cell-based assays used to measure nucleosome citrullination are lacking.
The assays resulting from this work will be useful for the development of diagnostic assays and potential biomarkers for autoimmune diseases.