{"id":12107,"date":"2026-04-27T00:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T00:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/27\/surrey-and-oxford-universities-protein-research-breaks-new-ground-bbc\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T00:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T00:51:12","slug":"surrey-and-oxford-universities-protein-research-breaks-new-ground-bbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/27\/surrey-and-oxford-universities-protein-research-breaks-new-ground-bbc\/","title":{"rendered":"Surrey and Oxford universities&#039; protein research breaks new ground &#8211; BBC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The discovery could lead to new treatments for conditions such as arthritis and Crohn&#x27;s<br \/><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">Researchers from the universities of Surrey and Oxford believe they have made a discovery which could lead to new treatments for a number of inflammatory diseases.<\/b><br \/>The team say they have discovered an unknown property of a protein which prevents the body controlling outbreaks of inflammation.<br \/>It is hoped it could be a major breakthrough in the treatment for conditions such as Crohn&#x27;s, arthritis and cardiovascular disease.<br \/>The research was funded by the British Heart Foundation.<br \/>The immune system uses inflammation to protect the body during bouts of illness or injury.<br \/>The researches say they have discovered the protein, called inducible nitric oxide synthase, binds directly onto another protein called IRG1.<br \/>This, they say, stops IRG1 from producing itaconate, a metabolite that acts as a brake on the inflammatory response. <br \/>Dr Mark Crabtree, head of clinical ciences discipline and senior lecturer in cardiovascular biochemistry, said the discovery could lead to very different ways of treating conditions caused by inflammation.<br \/>&quot;The physical interface between iNOS and IRG1 is a potential drug target, and a precise one&quot; he said.<br \/>&quot;Rather than dampening the immune response across the board, you could design something that disrupts just this interaction, freeing up the natural mechanisms that keep inflammation in check.&quot;<br \/><i class=\"ssrcss-xbdn93-ItalicText e5tfeyi2\">Follow BBC Surrey on <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BBCSurrey\/\" class=\"ssrcss-1e0jzsh-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\"><i class=\"ssrcss-xbdn93-ItalicText e5tfeyi2\">Facebook<\/i><span class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">, <!-- -->external<\/span><\/a><i class=\"ssrcss-xbdn93-ItalicText e5tfeyi2\">, on <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BBCSurrey\" class=\"ssrcss-1e0jzsh-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\"><i class=\"ssrcss-xbdn93-ItalicText e5tfeyi2\">X<\/i><span class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">, <!-- -->external<\/span><\/a><i class=\"ssrcss-xbdn93-ItalicText e5tfeyi2\">. 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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/editorialguidelines\/guidance\/links-and-feeds\" class=\"ssrcss-8iic47-Link e14mg4ud0\">Read about our approach to external linking.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMiXEFVX3lxTE1vWFkybVdJQjEzTUl6bFlfcjlHcGh5ZjNwbUNJVDA0RUYzcHdvWlZ3LXZVdUJkNXZKYVJwejZ6NnpOZjZCLWNFS2hqTjhBcTRZOU9TdFhoY3hVeVdM?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The discovery could lead to new treatments for conditions such as arthritis and Crohn&#x27;sResearchers from the universities of Surrey and Oxford believe they have made a discovery which could lead to new treatments for a number of inflammatory diseases.The team say they have discovered an unknown property of a protein which prevents the body controlling [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12107","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}