Strategies for Sepsis

Guoyun Chen, PhD, MD, a basic scientist at the Children’s Foundation Research Institute at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and an associate professor of Pediatric Research at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), has been awarded a $2.26 million R01 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to continue researching new ways to treat sepsis, a potentially deadly immune response to infection.

 Guoyun Chen, MD, PhD, received a grant to continue his research on new ways to treat sepsis, building on his prior work investigating molecular level interactions that may inhibit bacterial sepsis progression.

In his project titled “The molecular mechanism of Siglec-E in bacterial clearance,” Chen is building on prior work investigating key interactions at the molecular level that may help inhibit bacterial sepsis progression.

“Sepsis is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide,” said Chen. “Effective therapies for sepsis could help to reduce its associated mortality and improve outcomes of patients with severe sepsis.”

Most cases of septic shock are caused by a type of bacteria known as Gram-negative bacteria, the most common being E. coli. In other research studies, Chen and his research team previously discovered that special immune system receptors called Siglecs played a key role in the progression of sepsis. They found lack of Siglec-E increased mortality in organisms infected with Gram-negative bacteria. This heightened susceptibility correlated with impaired bacterial clearance, suggesting Siglec-E helps control the immune response against Gram-negative bacteria.

In this newly funded study, the Chen lab will now work to discover how Siglec-E helps in clearing bacterial infections. His team will investigate how Siglec-E differently regulates the immune response during infections by Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

By achieving these goals, the team hopes to uncover new ways to treat sepsis and improve outcomes for patients affected by this life-threatening condition.