Treating Autoimmune Diseases With LANCL2 Therapeutics: A Novel Immunoregulatory Mechanism for Patients With Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease.

ABSTRACT

Lanthionine synthetase C-like 2 (LANCL2) therapeutics have gained increasing recognition as a novel treatment modality for a wide range of autoimmune diseases. Genetic ablation of LANCL2 in mice results in severe inflammatory phenotypes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and lupus. Pharmacological activation of LANCL2 provides therapeutic efficacy in mouse models of intestinal inflammation, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and psoriasis. Mechanistically, LANCL2 activation enhances regulatory CD4 + T cell (Treg) responses and downregulates effector responses in the gut. The stability and suppressive capacities of Treg cells are enhanced by LANCL2 activation through engagement of immunoregulatory mechanisms that favor mitochondrial metabolism and amplify IL-2/CD25 signaling. Omilancor, the most advanced LANCL2 immunoregulatory therapeutic in late-stage clinical development, is a phase 3 ready, first-in-class, gut-restricted, oral, once-daily, small-molecule therapeutic in clinical development for the treatment of UC and CD. In this review, we discuss this novel mechanism of mucosal immunoregulation and how LANCL2-targeting therapeutics could help address the unmet clinical needs of patients with autoimmune diseases, starting with IBD.

Oral LANCL2 therapeutics are a safe and effective treatment modality for the long-term management of autoimmune diseases, including UC and CD, without causing systemic immunosuppression. This review discusses in detail the immunoregulatory mechanisms of action of LANCL2 therapeutics. More specifically, the article describes how omilancor, a first-in-class, oral, once daily, gut-restricted LANCL2 therapeutic could help address the unmet clinical needs of patients with IBD and other immune-mediated diseases.