Exploring FX06: a COVID-19 study with broader ARDS applications
Research Spotlight
August 2025
SBI Investigators Professor Gunther Eissner and Dr. Vadim Zhernovkov, along with their research teams, have spent more than 4 years exploring FX06, a naturally occurring fibrin-derived peptide, Bβ15-42, which has proved to be a game changer in COVID-19 research. The drug can protect human pulmonary endothelial cells (ECs) against inflammatory signals (cytokines, chemokines) that arise in COVD-19 and other forms of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Perhaps of greater relevance in 2025, FX06 is proven to be versatile enough for use in a number of inflammatory diseases beyond the extent of COVID.
Major Milestones
In a (opens in a new window)2025 paper in Frontiers in Immunology, Wang et al show that FX06 restores the integrity of the vascular lining by redistributing VE-cadherin (CD144) to the membrane of endothelial cells, thus preventing the migration of inflammatory cells into the pulmonary tissue. This is done by interfering with the pro-inflammatory RhoA-ROCK-1-signal transduction pathway. Eissner’s research team have shown this through western blot analyses and confirmed it through (phospho)proteomics and other state-of-the-art systems biology approaches.
Although originally tailored for COVID-19, FX06 also targets the aforementioned inflammatory signals that also occur in other forms of ARDS. The data from Eissner and Zhernovkov therefore contributes significantly to any initiative to fight future pandemics involving vascular leakage.
In addition, Eissner says that FX06 is a “nice, simple drug” that is ready for easy approval because they have made a big step towards the elucidation of the precise mechanism of action (MOA).
Going Forward
The next step, according to Eissner, is to find a way to use FX06 in stem cell transplantation. This natural progression could offer a new level of treatments to patients with limited options in various illnesses which affect the vascular endothelium under inflammatory conditions.
Beyond the seemingly endless possibilities for FX06, however, this study and its corresponding publication has also been an exemplary collaboration between disciplines and research groups across UCD, including Conway Core and other imaging facilities on campus. It is also the result of the work of a European consortium funded by Horizon Europe and involves a clinical trial which will hopefully bring the drug closer to patients in real life treatment applications. Unravelling the MOA of a new drug is extremely important for an approval to treat, as it is to be given by health authorities on every national and international level.
Overall, the FX06 research project is a success story showing how efficient and productive it is to have a mixed approach of traditional wet lab techniques paired with computational analysis, a concept championed by SBI since its inception in 2009.
Other Resources
Blog: “What are you up to, Fx06?” by Zhiran Wang, 10 January 2023
Read more about SBI researchers' ground breaking work in our series of "Spotlight" articles