Syk Kinase as a Therapeutic Target for Disease

Atopic dermatitis has been proposed to be the cutaneous manifestation of IgE-mediated hypersensitive reaction to allergenic substances [29]. Conceptually, antagonizing IgE emerges as a logical therapeutic option. Systemic treatment with omalizumab, however, appears to be less efficacious in the skin than in the airway mucosa [23]. It is possible that small molecule Syk inhibitors may offer a more suitable mode to reach and prevent activation of sensitized dermal mast cells and dendritic cells. 

1 Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), multiple sclerosis (MS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) 

MS is a neurological chronic and progressive disease likely caused by an autoimmune response to various antigens present in the myelin sheath. MS is 

In the proper cellular context in B cells, NK cells and mast cells, Syk kinase has been shown to transduce cell growth and survival signals by activating PI3K/Akt and Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways [3,46]. When deregulated, Syk activity can promote myelodysplasias, leukemogenesis, and perhaps viral-media ted cellular transformations [47,48]. By contrast, Syk has also been proposed to function as a tumor suppressor [49]. This is however, based on 

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