Feinstein Institutes' Opsonic Peptide OP18 Helps Immune Cells Clear Radiation-Induced Inflammatory Debris in Lab Tests
Researchers at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research reported in Frontiers in Immunology on October 12, 2026 that OP18, an opsonic peptide that tags damage signals such as histone H3 and HMGB1 for removal, increased the uptake of macrophage extracellular traps, sticky webs that radiation-damaged immune cells release, through the αvβ3 integrin. Clearing the traps eased mitochondrial stress in macrophages, raised the anti-inflammatory signal IL-10, and showed a trend toward lower NF-κB activation. The results come from cell experiments only.