The guest of WELCOME2 seminar will be Professor Dieter Steinhilber, Director of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt. Prof. Steinhilber will deliver a lecture titled: „Inflammation and lipid mediators: Old and new therapeutic strategies”.

Professor’s research focuses on lipid signaling and regulatory mechanisms in inflammation and cancer. He also investigates new therapeutic strategies with a special focus on the arachidonic acid cascade and the innate immune system.

The lecture will take place on May 9 (Friday) at 10:00 AM in the conference room of the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn, at Trylińskiego 18 (SKANDA room).

Abstract of the presentation:

Changes in oxylipin levels such as prostaglandins and leukotrienes have been associated with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma or multiple sclerosis (MS). The identification of 5-lipoxygenase, which is the key enzyme in leukotriene formation,  as a vitamin D-regulated gene  provides a link to vitamin D signaling which stimulates the innate immune system and alleviates the responses of the adaptive immune system. In the search of factors which regulate prostaglandin E formation, we identified the miR-574-5p as regulator which modulates expression of the microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1, the key enzyme in prostaglandin E2 formation.  Thus, miR-574-5p is an interesting target for drug development and the involved mechanisms in gene regulation as well as pharmacological strategies to inhibit miR-574-5p activity will be presented.