Abstract
The discovery of JAKs and STATs and their roles in cytokine and IFN action represented a significant basic advance and a new paradigm in cell signaling. This was quickly followed by discoveries pointing to their essential functions, including identification of JAK3 mutations as a cause of SCID. This and other findings predicted the use of therapeutically targeting JAKs as a new strategy for treating immune and inflammatory diseases. This now is a reality with seven approved jakinibs being used to treat multiple forms of arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and myeloproliferative neoplasms, and numerous ongoing clinical trials in other settings. This story provides interesting insights into the process of translating basic discoveries and also reveals the need to return to basic work to fill gaps that now become apparent.
Footnotes
This work was supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Intramural Research Program.
Abbreviations used in this article:
- ATC
- Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical
- Btk
- Bruton tyrosine kinase
- EPO
- erythropoietin
- GVHD
- graft-versus-host disease
- IBD
- inflammatory bowel disease
- MPN
- myeloproliferative neoplasm
- RA
- rheumatoid arthritis
- SLE
- systemic lupus erythematosus
- TYK2
- tyrosine kinase 2
- UC
- ulcerative colitis.
- Received December 16, 2019.
- Accepted February 11, 2020.
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