Asthma Switch

Asthma is a complex, chronic disease that currently affects around 5.4 million people in the UK. It’s characterised by the inflammation and narrowing of the airways, and excess mucus production – all of which cause difficulty breathing. There are a large number of asthma therapies currently being investigated, all with the aim of effectively controlling different aspects of the disease. A recent study looked into targeting transcription factors – molecules that have the ability to switch genes on or off within the cell nucleus – within mucus-producing goblet cells lining the airways (seen running along this stained section of lung tissue on the right). FOXM1 is one such transcription factor that is pivotal to goblet cells By blocking the activity of FOXM1 with a new drug called RCM-1 in mice, researchers saw a reduction in the production of goblet cells and inflammation, providing hope for a new treatment.

This is Breathe Easy Week

Written by Katie Panteli

Katie Panteli

Writer

Katie, a Warwick Biomed graduate, works for a science-publishing house in London with some of the world's most respected scientific minds. She's most interested in human biology, anything and everything that makes us tick.

• Image by Hannah Flood/Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, OH, USA
• Center for Lung Regenerative Medicine, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
• Image reprinted with permission from the AAAS - the American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Research published in Science Signaling, April 2017