Mitigating Viral Cytokine Storm by Stabilizing CIC Transcriptional Repression
Official title: Mitigation of Respiratory Viral Infection-Induced Cytokine Storm through Broad Transcriptional Reprogramming
Funded at University of Iowa · NIH-11391274 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A research project at the University of Iowa aims to see if keeping a specific gene-repressor complex intact can calm overactive immune responses during severe respiratory viral infections.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Iowa NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Iowa City, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2026 |
| Project end | August 31, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $783,191 |
| NIH project number | 1R01AI200301-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11391274 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are patients with or at risk for severe respiratory viral infections where cytokine storm contributes to disease severity, under future applicable clinical contexts.
✕Less likely to help
Patients with infections where inflammation is not a major driver of disease may derive little or no benefit.
What this research studies
This study looks at how severe infections like H5N1 or SARS-CoV-2 trigger an overactive immune response and cause a cytokine storm. Researchers focus on a DNA-binding repressor complex (CIC-ATXN1L) that normally keeps inflammatory genes quiet and how its degradation worsens inflammation. They will investigate the cellular pathways that lead to CIC degradation during inflammation and viral infection, and test whether blocking this degradation with MAPK inhibitors can reduce harmful inflammation. The work combines molecular biology with experiments that model viral-induced immune activation to understand potential therapies. If successful, this could point toward new strategies to prevent severe lung damage from viral infections.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If the approach works, it could lead to therapies that reduce deadly inflammatory responses in people with severe respiratory viral infections.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work shows that stabilizing regulatory proteins can dampen inflammation, but translating this to clinical therapies remains ongoing.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Iowa
Iowa City, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Manicassamy, Balaji — University of Iowa
- Study coordinator: Manicassamy, Balaji
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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.