Researchers at the University of Sydney and the University of Geneva have developed a new anticoagulant drug whose antithrombotic action can be stopped “on demand”. The new drug for the development of which the tsetse fly played a decisive role is expected to lead to innovative treatments that will be used in the operating room and also postoperatively, minimizing the risk of severe bleeding.
Medicine with… switch
The research team applied an entirely new method to discover a “supermolecule” that formed the basis of the new anticoagulant therapy, as reported in the scientific journal “Nature Biotechnology.” The new anticoagulant combines a peptide from the tsetse fly – a blood-feeding insect – with a second synthetic peptide. The bonds holding the two peptides together can be broken on demand, meaning the drug’s active ingredient has its own on-off switch.
This innovative approach, according to the scientists behind its development, is expected not only to change the course of operated patients but also to be applied in other fields such as immunotherapy.
Disadvantages of existing anticoagulant drugs
Anticoagulant drugs are not only necessary in cases of surgical operations but also for the management of many different diseases such as heart diseases, venous thrombosis and even strokes. However, existing treatment options, such as heparin and warfarin, are associated with several significant disadvantages such as the need for continuous monitoring of blood coagulation in patients and the risk of severe bleeding in case of overdose.
“Guilty” for many introductions to hospitals are anticoagulants
About 15% of emergency hospital admissions due to adverse drug reactions are complications of anticoagulant drugs. This fact highlights the importance of developing new, safer and more effective treatments.
With the “weapon” of supramolecular chemistry
As Professor Rich Payne from the University of Sydney’s School of Chemistry, deputy director of the ARC Center of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science and one of the lead authors of the new study, said “we have taken a completely new approach to drug development. The anticoagulant drug we developed is based on so-called supramolecular chemistry which allows two active anti-coagulation molecules to self-assemble and connect. The architecture of this approach also allows for the use of an antidote that can quickly separate the two bound molecules, stopping their action. This has never been achieved to date in drug development.”
The innovative approach is also valuable in immunotherapy
For his part, the head of the research group Professor Nicholas Winsinger from the Department of Organic Chemistry of
University of Geneva noted that “our findings can have a much wider application beyond the development of new anticoagulant drugs. The supramolecular approach is highly flexible and can be adapted to other therapeutic targets. It is particularly promising in the field of immunotherapy.”
Promise of safer CAR-T therapies
According to the professor, when it comes to immunotherapy, the supramolecular approach may prove valuable in CAR-T cell therapies. Although these therapies represent one of the biggest advances in recent years in the treatment of certain cancers, their use is associated with a significant risk of triggering an immune system “storm,” an exaggerated immune response that is potentially fatal. The ability to quickly “turn off” treatment with an antidote is therefore expected to improve the safety and efficacy of CART-T treatments.
It should be noted that the tsetse fly peptide was developed in the laboratories of the University of Sydney. Experiments of the new anticoagulant drug in human and mouse blood samples as well as in vivo experiments in mice were also carried out at the University of Sydney.
#tsetse #fly #offered #drug #works #onoff #switch
