Wellcome Trust award funds NEAT1-related disease research

The Institutional Strategic Support Fund by the Wellcome Trust has awarded over £48,000 to Cardiff University’s Medicines Discovery Institute to investigate a new target for a range of diseases.

NEAT1, a biological molecule found in most cells in the human body is involved in disease. New funding from the Wellcome Trust is enabling researchers at Cardiff University to investigate treatments that target this molecule, to improve therapies in the future.

Dr Tatyana Shelkovnikova, the Medicines Discovery Institute, said: “Abnormal activity of the molecule NEAT1 is linked to many diseases, including cancer and neurological disease.

“We see abnormal levels of NEAT1 in a variety of diseases, and therefore it hold real potential as a therapeutic target.

“However, there are currently no drugs available that precisely target NEAT1.”

The Institutional Strategic Support Fund from the Wellcome Trust will support research to identify new drugs that would target NEAT1 effectively.

“Once we have processed a new chemical that targets NEAT1, we will be able to test this on human cell models in our labs, in particular to monitor its effects on neurons and tumour cells..

“This funding is supporting a project that has the potential to inform the development of a new class of drugs,” added Dr Tatyana Shelkovnikova.