Signal Pharmaceuticals Inc. is collaborating with the Universities ofPittsburgh and California on research into regulating transcriptionfactors believed to be responsible for the expression of inflammatoryand viral diseases.Alan Lewis, president of the San Diego-based privately held company,said financial terms of the agreements were not disclosed.In the collaboration with University of Pittsburgh, Lewis said Signalwill be working with a team that will study the role of transcriptionfactors in the ability of herpes viruses to exist in a latent state and thenreplicate and cause disease.Lewis said the multi-year agreement with Pittsburgh will involvedeveloping a model system for testing transcription factor modulatorsto control not only herpes, but also other diseases with a latent phase,such as AIDS.The agreement with the University of California at San Diego is forone year. It focuses on research about regulating NFkB, a transcriptionfactor responsible for cytokines and leukocytes, which mediate tissuedamage in inflammatory diseases. _ Charles Craig

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