Stopping the sticky invasion:

Dalhousie brothers’ ‘adhesion molecule’ discoveries lead the way to new treatments for arthritis, multiple sclerosis and asthma

Drs. Andrew and Thomas Issekutz have discovered essential steps in the inflammatory process of rheumatoid arthritis – steps they think are key to treating and possibly curing this debilitating autoimmune disease.

The brothers – both senior faculty at Dalhousie Medical School and pediatric clinical immunologists at the IWK Health Centre – have been working together for more than 20 years to solve the mysteries of autoimmune diseases. Their past discoveries contributed to the current most effective treatment for severe rheumatoid arthritis. Now, they have opened the door to better treatments, with the potential to reverse the symptoms and halt the disease.

“In rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system is misguided and reacts against joint cartilage as if it were a foreign invader,” explains Dr. Andrew Issekutz. “We’ve discovered that the joints send signals that cause nearby blood vessels to display velcro-like patches called ‘adhesion molecules.’ White blood cells stick to these molecules and can then crawl through the vessel wall into the joint to attack the cartilage.”

The Drs. Issekutz have identified the essential adhesion molecules and found ways to block them with antibodies. “We now have the means to keep the white blood cells from invading the joint tissues,” says Dr. Thomas Issekutz. “Our goal is to use antibodies to ‘turn off’ the disease in its earliest stages, before the joints have been irreparably damaged.”

Adhesion molecules play a similar role in asthma and multiple sclerosis. The brothers’ work on these sticky molecules has already led to a new, highly effective treatment for multiple sclerosis – and shows promise in a new asthma treatment. This research is moving along quickly in the new High-Speed Fluorescent Cell Sorting Facility. This facility was established in 2005 through a generous grant from the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation Molly Appeal and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research equipment award.