• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation | OMRF

OMRF is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to discoveries that make a difference.

  • About
    • General Information
    • Disease Research
    • Education & Outreach
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
  • Science
    • Scientist Directory
    • Research Programs
    • Research Centers
    • Core Facilities
    • Scientific Publications
    • Scientific Seminars
    • Technology Ventures
  • News
    • Media Resources
    • News Releases
    • Publications
    • On Your Health
    • Bodywork
  • Patients
    • Anti-Aging Studies
    • Lupus (SLE)
    • MBTPS1 Related Disorders
    • Multiple Sclerosis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Sarcoidosis
    • Sjögren’s Disease
    • Other Autoimmune Disorders
  • Donate
    • Donate Now
    • Tax Credit
    • Planned Giving
    • Vehicle Donations
    • Why We Give
    • Your Gift at Work
    • Donor Recognition
    • Contact
Home - News - New grant will investigate overlaps in autoimmune diseases

New grant will investigate overlaps in autoimmune diseases

June 23, 2015

The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation has received a $2.1 million grant to study the autoimmune disease Sjögren’s syndrome.

The four-year award from the National Institutes of Health will allow OMRF’s Christopher Lessard, Ph.D., to understand the influence of genetic differences on the molecular mechanisms that predispose individuals to develop the disease.

Sjögren’s syndrome is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system becomes confused and turns against the body’s moisture-producing glands, damaging the ability to produce saliva or tears. 

In 2013, Lessard and his colleagues at OMRF were the first to identify six genes associated with Sjögren’s, which affects as many as 4 million people in the U.S., according to the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation. The paper, published in the scientific journal Nature Genetics, revealed that while four of the association signals in autoimmune-related genes overlapped those found in Sjögren’s syndrome, some of the genes looked identical to those found in lupus.

The new grant will allow Lessard to focus on IL12A and CXCR5, two genes that appear to distinguish Sjögren’s syndrome from lupus. He will also conduct additional genetic work to expand the findings from the 2013 paper.

“That paper really laid the foundation for this grant,” said Lessard, an assistant member in OMRF’s Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program.

Lessard said the commonalities between Sjögren’s and lupus, which he referred to as “close cousins,” are easy to identify. However, finding ways to separate the two diseases is considerably more difficult.

“Sjögren’s patients are often misclassified as lupus patients, especially early on when doctors are trying to pinpoint a diagnosis,” said Lessard. “Neither disease has a diagnostic test that clearly says whether you have lupus or Sjögren’s syndrome, and that complicates issues.”

The first step, said Lessard, is to study the genes and pathways that overlap and distinguish the two illnesses. That may give the researchers clues as to why certain genetic differences define Sjögren’s syndrome-specific features, while other genetic differences may more generally contribute to features shared across autoimmune diseases.

“My hope is this project can lead to information that can be used to help differentiate between the two conditions and lead to new therapeutic targets for Sjögren’s syndrome,” he said.

Lessard’s grant, number R01AR065953, is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, a part of the National Institutes of Health.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chris Lessard, christopher, genes, glands, grant, Lessard, lupus, million, models, moisture, National Institutes of Health, Nature Genetics, new, NIH, OKC, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, OMRF, patients, proteins, r01, scientist-news, Sjogren's syndrome, study

Before Footer

EEO/AA Employer/Vet/Disabled

Footer

  • Jobs
  • Directory
  • Donor Privacy Statement
  • Intranet
Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin

Subscribe to OMRF News
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Donor Privacy
  • Intranet
OMRF Logo
OKLAHOMA MEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION
825 NE 13th St.
Oklahoma City, OK 73104
(405) 271-6673
Charity navigatorUnited WayGive Smart OKCTop Workplace