Synthetic Amino Acid Promotes Coronary Vessel Development

A new study elaborates the significant effects that a synthetic amino acid has on the damaged hearts of mice and highlights its therapeutic potential for the treatment of heart attacks and heart failure in humans.

Researchers from the University College London's Institute of Child Health (UK) and other institutions have found that a synthetic version of thymosin beta four (T_4), a naturally occurring peptide present in virtually all human cells, can promote vessel formation and collateral growth not only during early development but also in adult epicardium, suggesting that T_4 has considerable therapeutic potential for humans.

T_4 promotes endothelial cell differentiation, angiogenesis in dermal tissues, collagen deposition, keratinocyte migration, and down-regulates inflammation. One of T_4's key mechanisms of action is its ability to regulate the cell-building protein actin, a vital component of cell structure and movement. Of the thousands of proteins in cells, actin represents up to 10% of the total protein and thereby plays a major role in the physiology of the cell. The study was published in the November 23, 2006, issue of the journal Nature.

T_4 was developed by RegeneRx (Bethesda, MD, USA). The company is developing drug candidates for T_4 in three principal areas: dermal, ophthalmic, and cardiovascular wound healing.

"These results are very exciting because most humans suffering from ischemic cardiac events, either acutely or chronically, do not develop the collateral vessel growth necessary to preserve and restore heart tissue. If, in humans, we see the same effects as seen in mice, T_4 would be the first drug to prevent loss of [heart] muscle cells and restore blood flow in this manner and provide a new and much-needed treatment modality for these patients,” said lead author Professor Deepak Srivastava, M.D., director of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF, CA, USA).



Related Links:
University College London's Institute of Child Health
RegeneRx
University of California San Francisco