BioCentury
ARTICLE | Targets & Mechanisms

New Roles for Old Factor

September 25, 2008 7:00 AM UTC

Researchers at the University Medical Center Utrecht and Crossbeta Biosciences B.V. have linked high levels of activated Factor XII with amyloidosis, a metabolic disease that is characterized by misfolded protein aggregates.1 The company plans to use the discovery in two ways-developing diagnostics for amyloidosis and other protein-misfolding disorders and offering services to protein therapeutic developers to measure levels of potentially immunogenic misfolded proteins in their production batches.

Other companies and academics want to see additional mechanistic data demonstrating the activation of Factor XII by misfolded protein aggregates. If the association holds up, they said it could have applications in developing treatments for inflammatory diseases...