TNFR2 and IL-33 identified as targets in Dupuytren's disease

INDICATION: Dupuytren's disease

Inhibiting TNFR2 and IL-33 could treat Dupuytren's disease, which is characterized by progressive fibrosis of the palmar and digital fascia. The effector cells in Dupuytren's, the myofibroblasts, mediate the accumulation of excess extracellular matrix, which then undergoes remodeling and contraction. In cultures of stromal cells isolated from patients’ nodular tissue, neutralizing antibodies against TNFR2 or IL-33 reduced mechanical peak force production -- a marker of aberrant contractility -- by myofibroblasts. Among freshly dissociated cells from the nodules, IL-33 RNA expression was higher in stromal cells than immune cells, with myofibroblasts secreting 60% of the total IL-33 in the nodules...