Researchers target enzyme

Blocking the action of one key enzyme offers new hope to reduce inflammatory damage linked with several diseases, including cystic fibrosis and Alzheimers disease, University of Otago Prof Tony Kettle says.

Prof Kettle, who is deputy director of the Free Radical Research Group at the university's Christchurch campus, yesterday gave a talk in Dunedin during the Otago health sciences division's annual research forum.

The forum was devoted to the theme "innovation through collaboration", and he discussed collaborating with Swedish researchers employed by global pharmaceutical company AstraZenica.

An Otago biochemistry graduate, Prof Kettle told more than 70 people his research was focused on a complex but fascinating green enzyme called myeloperoxidase, which used hydrogen peroxide to create a form of chlorine bleach.

Myeloperoxidase was the most abundant protein in neutrophils, a form of white blood cells which engulf and destroy invading bacteria, as part of the body's immune system.

The enzyme contributes to forming green mucus in the lungs, which can make breathing more difficult.

In several medical conditions, the enzyme had "got out of control", and was harming the body, including by contributing to inflammatory tissue damage, as in cystic fibrosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

One of his interests was how to block the activity of the enzyme, reducing the tissue damage.

Some drug experiments had shown that "targeting this enzyme" was likely to be beneficial, and initial tests suggested one group of chemical compounds, Thioxanthines, "stopped it in its tracks".

Prof Kettle said in an interview that it could take 10 years before a drug to block the enzyme was available commercially, but he was optimistic the enzyme was a good target, and that extensive basic research would contribute to an eventual positive outcome.

Prof Kettle had spent the past 25 years working with Free Radical Research Group director Prof Christine Winterbourn.

He urged young scientists to find and collaborate with leading researchers such as Prof Winterbourn, and this "works wonders for your career".

• The day-long research forum was to have been held in mid-August but was postponed after heavy snow disrupted air and road travel for many participants.

- john.gibb@odt.co.nz