# Role of the CD47 Pathway in Rheumatoid Arthritis Pathogenesis and Treatment

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · 2024 · $496,637

## Abstract

Project Summary
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) represents a chronic progressive process which leads to significant
morbidity and mortality. RA is driven by both inflammatory and stromal pathologies, and while
current therapies improve inflammation, there are not effective treatments targeting fibroblasts
and bone pathology in RA. The CD47 pathway can affect both immune cell phagocytosis
through SIRP-a signaling and stromal pathology through TSP-1 signaling. This study will define
the role of CD47 signaling in patient biospecimens and mouse models of arthritis, and assess the
utility of combinations of anti-CD47 therapy and biologics in RA. Our central hypothesis is that
CD47 is critical to RA pathogenesis and that its blockade will ameliorate or reverse
inflammatory arthritis and bone erosion. We will test this hypothesis through three specific
aims. Aim 1 will characterize the role of the CD47 signaling through TSP-1 and SIRP-a in
patients with RA through histologic analysis, single cell RNA sequencing, and synovial organoid
cultures. Aim 2 will assess whether CD47 is required for inflammatory arthritis by assessing
arthritis, bone outcomes, and cellular function in mice deficient in CD47 after inducing arthritis.
Aim 3 will determine the effectiveness of CD47 inhibition in combination with biologic therapies
in treating arthritis first using an in vitro drug screen and then testing the most promising
candidate therapy in vivo. The proposed research is significant both because it will substantially
improve understanding of RA biology, and because it has the potential to identify novel
therapeutic strategies which can treat both inflammatory and stromal pathways in RA.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10890114
- **Project number:** 5R01AR080015-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Benjamin Douglas Korman
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $496,637
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-20 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10890114

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10890114, Role of the CD47 Pathway in Rheumatoid Arthritis Pathogenesis and Treatment (5R01AR080015-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10890114. Licensed CC0.

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