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From Health Sciences Center - University of Louisville Dental School News LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Michael Martin, an assistant professor of dentistry at UofL, has been awarded $1.4 million from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research to study the role of inflammation in the immune system’s efforts to protect the body from disease.
Martin, a member of the Oral Health and Systemic Disease Research Group, studies how the body reacts to the bacteria that cause periodontitis, a common and potentially serious disease of the mouth that can result in gum and tooth loss.
In previous laboratory work, Martin discovered a protein, called GSK3, that appears to regulate inflammation.
The newly-funded study will use mice with periodontal disease to determine how GSK3 regulates the disease process and whether it can be used to control the inflammatory response and tissue destruction that occurs with periodontal disease.
The body’s immune response to disease is determined by chemicals that cause and prevent inflammation. At first, inflammation can be protective, helping to kill invading bacteria. Sometimes, however, the immune system’s inflammatory response over-reacts, causing damage to the body’s tissues. This mechanism is thought to be at the heart of many auto-immune disorders.
“Our indirect evidence suggests GSK3 will work well to control periodontal disease and may have applications to many inflammatory diseases,” he added.
A better understanding of the protein’s role in controlling inflammation could lead to treatments for diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease and lupus. It may also lead to new ways to stop sepsis, a life-threatening immune response to infection that often leads to organ failure and death.
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