Monitoring Therapeutic Responses in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc)

It can be a cumbersome clinical challenge to monitor subtle changes in collagen turnover in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc), a complex autoimmune condition marked by skin and organ fibrosis.

We are excited to share our latest open access paper in Arthritis Research & Therapy, produced in collaboration with Dr. Satoshi Kubo. Our study reveals that although type VII collagen—an essential anchoring fibril in the skin’s basement membrane—is not directly linked to skin stiffness, its turnover is significantly elevated in SSc, even when disease activity appears low.

In this study, we have shown that the dynamics of type VII collagen remodeling can be quantified using the serological biomarker PRO-C7, measuring type VII collagen formation, and it’s counterpart measuring collagen degradation, C7M. By tracking these biomarkers, clinicians can identify patients with hidden yet active collagen turnover, allowing for more personalized treatment strategies and better monitoring of therapeutic responses.

Article: Accelerated Type VII collagen turnover in systemic sclerosis patients, reflected by serological neo-epitope fragment biomarkers