Autoantibodies against muscle membrane repair proteins in myositis
Official title: Autoantibodies to membrane repair proteins in myositis
Funded at Ohio State University · NIH-11196770 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work looks at whether people with myositis have antibodies that attack proteins that fix damaged muscle cell membranes and how that may cause muscle inflammation and weakness.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Ohio State University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Columbus, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | September 24, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $403,624 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AR084518-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11196770 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (myositis) such as polymyositis, dermatomyositis, or other immune-mediated myopathies, especially those with recent or active muscle weakness and who can donate blood or tissue samples, would be ideal candidates to inform this work.
✕Less likely to help
People without immune-mediated myositis or those with long-standing, irreversible muscle damage are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this research.
What this research studies
Researchers will use mouse models that lack key membrane repair proteins and models with regulatory T cell defects to recreate myositis-like muscle inflammation and study how immune cells and antibodies cause injury. They will perform adoptive transfer experiments and lab studies of muscle cells and tissues to trace how damaged muscle proteins become visible to the immune system. The team aims to identify specific autoantibodies to membrane repair proteins and to show how those antibodies interfere with the membrane repair process and promote ongoing muscle inflammation. Findings will be compared to human disease samples when available to link the mouse results to patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could lead to tests that detect harmful autoantibodies and to new treatments that protect muscle membrane repair and reduce muscle weakness in myositis patients.
How similar studies have gone: Previous mouse studies have shown that defective membrane repair can lead to mild myositis and that immune cell transfer can cause muscle inflammation, but identifying autoantibodies to repair proteins in patients would be a novel advance.
Where this research is happening
-
Ohio State University
Columbus, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Jarjour, Wael N — Ohio State University
- Study coordinator: Jarjour, Wael N
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Myositis-ILD Risk Prediction: How ILD Progresses in Myositis Patients
A study to build better tools that predict how lung disease linked to myositis will behave in diverse patients.
-
Autoantibodies and membrane repair in myositis
A blood and tissue study seeks to understand how immune reactions against muscle repair proteins contribute to inflammatory myositis, with the goal of guiding better treatments for people with this condition.
-
Why chikungunya causes long-lasting joint and muscle pain
This work looks at how chikungunya virus can linger in joint and muscle cells and keep causing pain for people who had the infection.
-
Predicting lung disease outcomes in people with myositis
This project combines medical information and genetic markers to predict which people with myositis will have worsening interstitial lung disease.
-
Cancer risk in inflammatory muscle disease (myositis)
This project looks for signs in people with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies that show whether they have or might develop cancer.
-
Understanding how Chikungunya virus causes long-lasting joint and muscle pain
This study is looking into how the Chikungunya virus can cause long-lasting joint and muscle pain in some people, and it aims to find out how the virus sticks around in the body so we can develop better treatments for those who are suffering.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.