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ARTICLE | Emerging Company Profile

Unlocking PADs

Padlock developing PAD inhibitors for autoimmune diseases

January 19, 2015 8:00 AM UTC

Padlock Therapeutics Inc. is developing a pipeline of small molecule inhibitors of PAD enzymes to prevent the production of autoantigens that can trigger autoimmune diseases. The approach could selectively treat and potentially even prevent diseases like rheumatoid arthritis without dampening a patient's overall immune system.

Peptidyl arginine deiminase (PADI; PAD) enzymes convert the amino acid arginine into citrulline, removing a positive charge from the surface of a protein, which can affect the protein's structure and function. In some patients, the immune system recognizes these citrullinated proteins as foreign. ...