List of Cehs Standard Pilot Projects Awards

The mechanism by which ultraviolet (UV) light aggravates the symptoms of the autoimmune disorder lupus erythematous (LE) is not clear. This is a problem because it signifies a lack of understanding of LE photosensitivity and represents a barrier to predicting patient disease outcomes. The objective of this interdisciplinary, collaborative pilot project is to examine how the small, excised, damage-containing DNA oligonucleotide (sedDNA) products of UV photoproduct repair impact the aberrant inflammatory and immune response pathways that define LE and to determine whether cutaneous LE patients develop autoantibodies against the proteins and sedDNAs that are involved in these signaling processes. The central hypothesis is that the association of sedDNAs with specific pattern recognition receptor proteins (PRRs) leads to the overstimulation or amplification of the autoimmune response in the skin of LE patients. Ultimately, this research has the potential to improve our understanding of LE patient photosensitivity and lead to the development of new tools for diagnosing, classifying, and treating LE patient subtypes. The preliminary data generated here will be used by Dr. Kemp to apply for R01-level funding.