New Blood
Clot
Discovery
Could Pave
Way for
Treatments
of Blood
Diseases |
|
|| February 17: 2019:
University of Exeter
News || ά. Scientists
have discovered new
ways, in which, the body
regulates blood clots,
in a discovery, which
could, one day, lead to
the development of
better treatments, that
could help prevent and
treat conditions,
including, heart
diseases, Stroke and
Vascular Dementia. Led
by the University of
Exeter academics and
funded by the British
Heart Foundation, the
researchers have
developed a new
technique, that allows
them to, simultaneously,
measure blood clotting
and the formation of
free radicals.
Free radicals are
unstable molecules,
containing unpaired
single electrons,
seeking to pair up. This
makes these molecules
highly reactive, that
are able to modify
protein, lipids and DNA.
Amongst other unwanted
effects, free radicals
play a role in the
build-up of blood clots,
which, in turn, are
considered a key driver
in the development of a
range of conditions,
including, heart
diseases, Stroke,
Dementia and
inflammation-related
conditions, such as,
Arthritis. The new
technique is outlined in
research, published in
Haematologica.
The technique combines
electron para-magnetic
resonance, an advanced
method for detecting
free radicals, with
blood cell aggregometry,
an established technique
for measuring blood
clotting. The research
team has, successfully,
used the technique in
mice and in human cells.
They aim to better
understand how blood
cells function, which
will help in the
development of new drugs
against blood clotting
diseases or to test the
risk of clotting
diseases in patients.
Dr Giordano Pula, of the
University of Exeter
Medical School, who led
the Study, said, “We’re
really excited to
discover this new
technique and its
potential to understand
how blood vessel
diseases develop. For
the first time, we can,
now, simultaneously,
measure blood clotting
and the formation of
free radicals. We know,
they play a key role in
blood vessel damage,
caused by ageing,
diabetes, obesity and
chronic inflammation.
We’re currently using
this technique in our
efforts to develop a new
treatment to protect the
blood vessels in
diseases, such as, heart
diseases, Stroke,
Obesity and Vascular
Dementia.”
The Researcher team,
which includes other
academics in the
laboratory of Professor
Patrick Pagano at the
University of
Pittsburgh, US,
discovered that the
enzymes NADPH oxidases
are critically important
for the generation of
free radicals, the
stimulation of blood
clotting and the
promotion of blood
vessel damage in
patients.
Professor Jeremy
Pearson, the Associate
Medical Director at
the British Heart
Foundation, said,
“With BHF funding, Dr
Pula has developed an
improved method to
investigate part of the
blood clotting process,
which focuses on the
ways, in which platelets
from blood samples clump
together.
This method, may be,
useful for future
studies looking into new
anti-platelet treatments
for diseases, such as,
Diabetes, where clotting
is disturbed and
increases the risk of
Heart Attack or Stroke.”
The Paper: A novel
combinatorial technique
for simultaneous
quantification of oxygen
radicals and aggregation
reveals unexpected redox
patterns in the
activation of platelets
by different
physiopathological
stimuli https://doi.org/10.3324/haematol.2018.208819:::ω.
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In Vitro
Grafts
Increase
Blood Flow
in Infarcted
Rat Hearts |
 |
|| February 06:
2019: University
of Washington
News || ά.
Advances in stem
cell research
offer hope for
treatments, that
could help
patients regrow
heart muscle
tissue after
heart attacks, a
key to achieving
more complete
recovery.
Scientists
report success
in creating
functional blood
vessels in vitro
for hearts of
rats that had
sustained a
heart attack.
The Paper has
been published
in The Journal
Nature
Communications.
The scientists
set out to show
that by growing
stem
cell-derived
heart tissue in
a petri dish,
with attention
to blood
vessels’
construction,
they could
improve the
tissue’s
incorporation
with existing
heart vessels.
The research
team used human
stem cells to
create a
vascularised
construct or
patch, with a
functioning
network of blood
vessels, that
mimics the
vasculature of a
human heart. “To
our knowledge,
this is the
first
demonstration
that building
organised blood
vessels with
perfusion
outside the body
leads to
improved
integration with
host blood
vessels and
better tissue
blood flow.”
said Mr Zheng, a
University of
Washington
Associate
Professor of
Bio-engineering.
I come from a
mechanical
background. I
love thinking
about the
dynamics of
blood flow. Our
whole bodies are
vascularised.
This network of
vessels is
dynamic and
interconnected,
like a
transportation
system, that
remodels itself
all the time.
Being able to
organise the
vessels in the
tissue outside
the body was
very important.
When we
implanted the
patch, we saw
that the stem
cell-derived
tissue
integrated
effectively with
the host’s
coronary
circulation.
This improved
blood flow to
the engineered
tissue and gave
it the nutrients
it needed to
survive.”
‘’Disruption to
blood flow
during a heart
attack leads to
significant loss
of heart muscle
and heart
function. Heart
muscle, grown
from stem cells,
must, not only
survive and
integrate with
the host tissue
but, it, must,
also, restore
adequate blood
flow.’’ said
Professor Murry,
of Pathology,
Bio-engineering
and
Medicine:Cardiology
atht University.
Optical
micro-angiography
imaging
techniques,
developed by
Professor Ricky
Wang, of the
Bio-engineering,
showed that
blood flow
within the
grafts was
twentyfold
higher than has
been reported
for any other
such graft. This
suggested,
according to
researchers,
that nurturing
the tissue in
the lab had a
meaningful
benefit for the
heart cells
before they were
implanted into
the rats’
hearts.
The research was
funded by
National
Institutes of
Health grant.
The Paper:
Patterned human
microvascular
grafts enable
rapid
vascularization
and increase
perfusion in
infarcted rat
hearts: Meredith
A Redd, Nicole
Zeinstra, Wan
Qin, Wei Wei,
Amy Martinson,
Yuliang Wang,
Ruikang K Wang,
Charles E Murry
and Ying Zheng:
Published in The
Journal Nature
Communications
Caption:
Histology slides
show murine
heart at five
days
post-implant a:
with
conventional
non-perfusable
vessels and b:
with patterned
perfusable
cardiac
construct:
Image: Nicole
Zeinstra:
University of
Washington Bio-engineering:::ω.
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