University of Houston student Ashley Guerrero uses a large pipette to place liquid into a test tube. Guerrero is part of the research team who will assist Associate Professor Dr. Weiyi Peng on her research into lupus.
With nearly $1 million in federal funding, a University of Houston researcher will study the connection between an enzyme found in cancerous tumors and immune cells of lupus patients — innovative research that could transform how lupus is diagnosed and treated.
Awarded Sept. 1 from the U.S. Department of Defense, the $999,932 grant will support the work of Associate Professor Dr. Weiyi Peng, whose research aims to reshape understanding of lupus biology, improve patient monitoring and potentially accelerate treatment by repurposing existing cancer drugs.
Lupus, or systemic lupus erythematosus, is a chronic autoimmune disease in which immune cells mistakenly attack healthy tissue. The disease — which can affect the kidneys, heart, lungs, skin, joints or brain — impacts an estimated 1.5 million Americans and at least 5 million people worldwide, according to the Lupus Foundation of America.
“With this funding, we can make our idea eventually translate into the clinical setting and benefit more lupus patients,” said Peng, who directs both the Drug Discovery Institute and Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling at UH.
Explaining the Mechanisms
Peng’s work builds on her background in cancer immunology. In previous studies, she found that many tumors overexpress protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5), an enzyme that alters the function of other proteins and promotes tumor growth when abnormally elevated.
Recent studies show that PRMT5 is also overactive in the immune cells of lupus patients and mouse models, leading Peng to believe the enzyme may play a critical role in lupus profession. Over the next four years, her team will:
- Determine whether PRMT5 inhibitors — already in clinical trials for cancer — can slow or reduce lupus disease progression.
- Investigate whether PRMT5-modified proteins generate new autoantibodies that could serve as biomarkers to diagnose lupus, assess disease severity and monitor treatment response.
The Bigger Picture
Peng will collaborate with Dr. Chandra Mohan — a leading lupus researcher at UH — and physicians from UT Southwestern Medical Center and UTHealth Houston. Together, the multidisciplinary team will study archived samples from approximately 100 lupus patients.
“This is definitely a team effort with different multidisciplinary experts to eventually ensure the success of the project,” Peng said.
Peng is one of two UH researchers to receive federal funding this year for lupus research. Biomedical engineer Tianfu Wu received a $1 million Impact Award from the DOD to develop a new drug delivery system that targets the spleen, where certain immune cells contribute to lupus.