Researchers identify hCRTh2 protein as possible therapeutic target for asthma

Patients with asthma have chronic lung inflammation that results in sporadic narrowing of the airways and difficulty breathing. Symptoms and severity are variable among individuals; however, the cells and inflammatory factors that trigger asthmatic events have been fairly well characterized and are similar regardless of the asthma-inducing stimuli. In this issue of JCI Insight, investigators led by Karin Reif of KARBio LLC and Cary Austin of Genentech Inc. identified human CRTh2 (hCRTh2), a protein expressed on several immune cell populations that are implicated in asthma, as a possible therapeutic target. The research team generated antibodies targeting hCRTh2, and demonstrated that anti-CRTh2 depletes hCRTh2-positive cells from the lungs and lymphoid organs of asthmatic mice that were engineered to express the human form of CRTh2. Importantly, antibody treatment reduced production of asthma-associated cytokines and inflammation in these mice. The results of this study support further exploration of CRTh2 as a therapeutic target for asthma.