May 5, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, AL — UAB has received a two-year $1 million grant renewal from the Alliance for Lupus Research to support its ongoing investigation of new treatments for lupus, a disease in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys its own healthy cells and tissues. UAB’s research project was one of two recently selected by the Alliance for funding at this level on the basis of promising results shown in initial studies.

UAB’s investigation focuses on B lymphocytes, the cells that produce antibodies that help fight infections. “In lupus, the B cells are activated abnormally and produce antibodies that damage healthy tissues,” said Dr. Robert Carter, associate professor of medicine with UAB’s Division of Clinical Immunology/Rheumatology. “Our studies are investigating ways to halt the activation of these cells.”

One method is to block the effects of a protein called B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS), which is crucial to the survival of B cells. Another strategy is to stimulate proteins called death receptors, which are part of the normal process of turning off activated cells. “Laboratory studies have shown that blocking BLyS or stimulating death receptors effectively eliminates activated B cells,” Carter said.

The research team is now working to develop therapies that will selectively target BLyS or death receptors in destroying harmful B cells. “A targeted strategy should provide a significant advantage over current lupus therapies, which kill healthy cells as well as harmful ones and which can have serious side effects, particularly when taken for long periods.”

The Alliance for Lupus Research, founded in 1999 by Robert Wood Johnson, IV, of the Johnson & Johnson healthcare family, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure of lupus through medical research. “The Foundation focuses on the development of novel therapies for lupus,” said Carter. “It’s exciting to be part of this effort.”