“Basic research of vital importance for new medical innovations”

(27.01.12)

FiDiPro Professor Rikard Holmdahl spent his five-year professorship studying the mechanisms involved in chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The FiDiPro (Finland Distinguished Professor) funding period, secured by the Academy of Finland, is now coming to an end, but the research that has got well underway will continue.

“FiDiPro is a well-developed package. All of the bureaucracy and politics are handled on your behalf, allowing you to focus on your research. Conducting basic research is of vital importance for the creation of new medical innovations,” explains Rikard Holmdahl.

Autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, are diseases whose fundamental causes are unknown. There are also no medical cures for these diseases. The mechanisms that lead to tissue damage as part of these autoimmune diseases are, however, largely similar.

Rikard Holmdahl works with autoimmune diseases at Karolinska Institutet in Solna, Sweden, but the FiDiPro professorship has brought him to Turku twice a month for the past five years.

“It’s quite easy to come here. The cultural differences are minor, so cooperation is really smooth and efficient,” Holmdahl explains.

Holmdahl also expresses his gratitude to the Academy of Finland and appreciation for the functionality of its FiDiPro programme.

“FiDiPro is a well-developed package. All of the bureaucracy and politics are handled on your behalf, allowing you to focus on your research. Conducting basic research is of vital importance for the creation of new medical innovations,” explains Holmdahl.

Secret to autoimmune diseases in our genes

Holmdahl’s research team in Turku consists of three researchers who work at the MediCity Research Laboratory developing tools that will shed light on the origin and course of diseases. Holmdahl’s team has succeeded in identifying genes whose changes affect the onset of disease.

“The aim of our research is to try to understand the mechanisms that trigger the onset of a disease, in order to facilitate the development of methods by which we can completely prevent its onset. For example, the onset of rheumatoid arthritis may already occur ten years before the appearance of the first symptoms. Therefore, an effective protective method would be a vaccine that prevents the actual onset,” Holmdahl clarifies.

The research is being conducted with the help of animal modelling. Holmdahl uses mice as his research subjects, and he has closely examined their gene mutations and the impact of external factors on the process.

“Research is not conducted in a single night. First, you have to develop research methods by which you can, for example, verify changes on the genetic level. Basic research is an essential part of the journey toward a final medication that will benefit the greater public; a journey that may last about two decades.”

For the research project, researchers utilise well-characterised inflammatory disease models and effective genetic methods to locate disease genes. Holmdahl’s research team has succeeded in identifying a gene whose transformation reduces the production of free radicals and affects the onset and progression of autoimmune diseases. In light of the research results, it appears also that some people have a greater congenital risk of developing, for example, rheumatoid arthritis. Holmdahl’s research has, thus, combined animal modelling and genetic research in a groundbreaking way.

Many diseases that shorten human life expectancy, such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes, could be classified as ‘unnecessary’ according to Holmdahl. Instead of medications that relieve symptoms, the objective of Holmdahl's team is to prevent the onset of the disease altogether.

Moving forward with basic knowledge and an open mind

Together with partners in Turku, Stockholm and numerous international sites, Holmdahl and his research team are endeavouring to collect as comprehensive a database as possible about the molecular level of autoimmune diseases.

“It seems now that the trend is to finance the development of medications and treatments, whereby we run a danger of overlooking the importance of conducting basic research on diseases. We’re quite intentionally questioning and provoking international discourse concerning medical research, so that we might secure the continuity of such research,” Holmdahl says with a smile.

In December, autoimmune disease research received wide international attention when the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Bruce A. Beutler, Jules A. Hoffmann and Ralph M. Steinman for their research on the mechanisms that trigger the activation of innate immunity. This recognition also greatly pleases Holmdahl.

Holmdahl will continue his research, even after the end of the FiDiPro funding period in Turku. Over the years, the MediCity research team has developed into one of the world’s leading groups conducting research on autoimmune diseases, and the research, originally funded by the Academy, will continue with funding provided by the University of Turku and various foundations.

“We have yet to publish any of our research results. We are, however, currently focused on verifying, confirming and publishing these results,” Holmdahl specifies.

Caption: Professor Rikard Holmdahl is wrapping up his FiDiPro professorship in Turku. Autoimmune disease research will, however, continue with funding provided by the University of Turku and different foundations.

Text: Riikka Söderlund
Photo: Vesa-Matti Väärä