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Studies over the last decade have provided us with a wealth of evidence showing that Annexin-1 is a homeostatic endogenous anti-inflammatory mediator of the innate immune system. However, as in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', recent investigations on the role of this protein in the adaptive immune response have revealed a previous unknown 'dark side' as positive modulator of T cell activation. This review will be focusing on these recent findings providing further evidences for the promising therapeutic potential of drugs targeting Annexin-1.

Inflammation disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and inflammatory bowel disease can be considered as 'gene expression' diseases in which the pro-inflammatory gene program of the organism is aberrantly activated. Over the past 20 years, great attention has been given to the transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) for its involvement in inflammatory and immune diseases. Recently, several studies have been devoted to the development of new molecules that can prevent the expression of inflammatory genes by targeting NF-κB pathways. Therefore, it is possible to hypothesize that these molecules might represent the future class of drugs for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.