Development of assays to assess the clinical utility of tenascin-C in inflammatory diseases

Tenascin-C is a protein that is reported as being increased during embryonic development, tissue repair and in a number of pathological conditions particularly those with a chronic inflammatory component. Limited previously published data suggests that elevated tenascin-C in the peripheral circulation is associated with some inflammatory diseases. Very many diseases are associated with a chronic inflammatory response including arthritis, cardiovascular disease, carcinoma, neurodegenerative disease as well as infectious disease. The aim of the proposed project is to characterise the circulating forms of tenascin-C, develop suitable assays for its measurement, relate circulating concentrations of tenascin-C to a variety of models of inflammatory disease and for measurement of tenascin-C in human (and potentially veterinary) patient cohorts. A successful outcome to this work might benefit patients in terms of improved diagnosis of disorders with inflammatory components and in particular might provide prognostic and theranostic information related to the extent of tissue damage. There is the potential for targeted therapeutic intervention to reduce tissue damage (possibly through inhibition of tenascin-C) and therefore a Stratified Medicine role for this molecule where it acts as both the therapeutic target and a marker of disease severity.