Download gene research benefits asthma sufferers

Asthma Foundation WA Media Release 2016
GENE RESEARCH BENEFITS ASTHMA SUFFERERS
22 February 2016
Dr Svetlana Baltic, Senior Scientist, Molecular Genetics Unit at Harry Perkins Institute
of Medical Research was awarded a Project Grant of $26,500 from Asthma
Foundation WA (AFWA), as part of the research grants announced during National
Asthma Week in September 2013, and the final report from her research has
recently been published.
Dr Baltic’s research was entitled ‘Aberrant alternative splicing defines the severity of
asthma’.
Dr Baltic said that ‘we’ve always known that asthma had a link to the immune
system, but until now, researchers haven’t understood exactly why the genes
involved in the immune system act differently in people with asthma’.
‘Every human cell contains a full range of human genes. But those genes are
expressed in different ways – or have different variations – depending on the type of
cell.
The gene variants are produced by a process called “alternative splicing”.
Alternatively spliced genes are a normal phenomenon – around 95% of all human
genes are alternatively spliced. But sometimes in disease, the expression of these
variations is abnormal, and the cells don’t function as they should’.
Dr Baltic noted that ‘in our studies so far, we have shown that there are different
variants of genes expressed in people with asthma compared with people without
asthma. This difference also determines whether a person has mild or severe
asthma.
We have also discovered that variants within two specific genes, known as SETD7
and KDM6A can influence the function of the whole immune system, affecting
hundreds of genes’.
‘This means that using gene therapy, we can now correct the expression of these
variants, and actually change the expression of many of the genes that affect the
function of the immune system. This could make a person with asthma’s condition
less severe, or maybe cure their asthma all together’.
In conclusion Dr Baltic noted that this discovery means the beginning of exciting
new work on these gene variants. Now we need to understand the mechanisms of
what regulates the ‘alternative splicing’ and expression of specific splice variants,
which could mean new treatments for people with asthma’.
Asthma Foundation WA Media Release 2016
AFWA CEO Dr Johnson said that ‘Dr Baltic has recently joined AFWA’s Medical and
Scientific Advisory Committee (MASAC) which is made up of clinicians, researchers
and physicians who are all working at the forefront of respiratory research. We look
forward to Dr Baltic’s input and experience to AFWA’s ongoing research funding and
her gene research outcomes is very positive for asthmatics’.
AFWA, a community based not-for-profit organisation, is a Registered Training
Organisation which has been providing services to the WA community for the past 52
years. AFWA’s main role is to fund local research into asthma, provide education and
support services for people with asthma and to train health professionals in the most
up to date methods in asthma management.
ends……….
Media Enquiries:
Naomi Quinlivan
Candy Stripe Public Relations
0408 598 977
[email protected]