Southampton researchers are making advances in disease modelling that could lead to new drugs being identified.
They are developing models that better reflect human disease. This will help them to identify new drug targets for hard-to-treat diseases like lung fibrosis.
Dr Joseph Bell is a Research Fellow at the University of Southampton. He led the new analysis, which has been published in Cell Reports Medicine.
Dr Bell is now advancing this research through a one-year Postdoctoral Bridging Fellowship at the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). His work takes place in the Brooke Lab at Southampton General Hospital.
Read more about how he is driving the project forward here.
“A pressing need”
Patients with lung fibrosis experience shortness of breath that gets worse over time. This is caused by a build-up of scar tissue.
"Lung fibrosis has a devastating impact on patients, with a life expectancy of just 3-5 years from diagnosis," said Dr Bell.
“There is a pressing need for drugs that can halt the progression of this disease. Our research aims to improve disease models so we can find better drug targets and increase the chances of success in clinical trials.”
The study uses a technology called spatial transcriptomics. It allows researchers to see gene and protein activity within specific regions or individual cells of tissue samples.
This method provides a clearer picture of how diseases work at a cellular level. It makes preclinical drug studies more accurate.
“Many drugs fail in clinical trials because the models used to test them don't adequately represent human disease,” Dr Bell explained.
“By using spatial transcriptomics as a reference, we aim to create disease models that more closely match what happens in human tissue. This could make drug studies more reliable before they reach clinical trials.”
Improving drug discovery
The study was supported by NC3Rs, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the UK Medical Research Council.
The paper also looked at a drug called simtuzumab. It had initially seemed promising based on its performance in animal models. However, the research team found that the drug did not work as expected when it reached clinical trials.
The study was overseen by Professor Mark Jones. He is a specialist in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Southampton and part of the NIHR Southampton BRC. Prof Jones said:
“Our findings suggest that relying on traditional models contributed to simtuzumab's failure. We think that using models which better reflect human disease will reduce the likelihood that a drug then fails in clinical trials.”
Comments