STAT4-driven immune problems and poor wound healing in disabling pansclerotic morphea
Official title: Crosstalk of Immune Dysregulation and Impaired Wound Healing in inherited STAT4-mediated Autoinflammatory Disease
Funded at University of California, San Diego · NIH-11267975 · Data updated 2026-11-12
The team will try blocking overactive STAT4/JAK signaling to reduce inflammation and help wound healing for children with disabling pansclerotic morphea.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Diego NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (La Jolla, United States) |
| Project start | February 1, 2025 |
| Project end | January 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $398,959 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AI189984-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11267975 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are children and other patients diagnosed with disabling pansclerotic morphea, especially those known to carry STAT4 gain-of-function variants.
✕Less likely to help
Patients with other forms of morphea that do not involve STAT4 or JAK-STAT signaling may not receive direct benefit from these findings.
What this research studies
This project focuses on disabling pansclerotic morphea (DPM), a rare childhood disease where a STAT4 gene change causes severe inflammation and poor skin and joint healing. Researchers will use patient samples, cell-based experiments, and animal models to study how the STAT4 gain-of-function mutation keeps immune signals like phosphorylated STAT4 and IL-6 turned on and impairs immune cell development and tissue repair. They will test whether JAK inhibitors can lower IL-6, reduce autoinflammation, and restore normal wound healing in the lab and in vivo. The team aims to connect those laboratory findings back to patients to inform potential targeted treatments.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to targeted therapies (such as JAK inhibitors) that reduce inflammation and improve wound healing and survival for people with STAT4-mediated DPM.
How similar studies have gone: JAK inhibitors have shown benefit in other autoinflammatory and dermatologic conditions and the preliminary lab and animal data here suggest improved wound healing, though clinical proof in DPM remains limited.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Broderick, Lori — University of California, San Diego
- Study coordinator: Broderick, Lori
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Immunomodulatory therapy to speed up healing after oral cavity injuries in kids
A new approach using a drug called FTY720 aims to improve healing and reduce pain after oral injuries or palate surgery in children.
-
Aiming to slow dangerous lung inflammation to help fight bacterial infections like tuberculosis
A patient-facing program tests whether stopping a specific inflammatory cell (Spp1+ macrophages) from overreacting can help control tuberculosis and possibly improve outcomes in other inflammatory diseases.
-
Engineered protein materials to study wound healing and blood vessels
A researcher team at the University of New England is studying how the environment around a protein changes its behavior to better understand wound healing and blood vessel formation.
-
Understanding how healing tissue uses tiny messengers and scaffolds to repair wounds
A study to learn how cells talk to each other and how tiny vesicles and the extracellular matrix help skin wounds heal better.
-
Hormone signals and sex differences in how wounds heal
This grant explores how male- and female-specific hormones affect wound healing and scarring, with the goal of improving treatments for people who heal poorly.
-
Therapeutic extracellular vesicles to boost skin wound healing
A research grant is exploring how tiny cell messengers called extracellular vesicles can be engineered to improve skin wound repair in injury models.
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.