Spees’ New NIH Grant to Expand Study of Novel Post-Heart Attack Therapy
A heart attack continues to harm cardiac muscle even after the immediate problem – a blocked artery – is fixed, but University of Vermont researchers have developed a new biologic drug that can preserve blood vessels critical to the body’s blood-pumping system.
When an artery in the heart is clogged, toxic substances from cardiac tissue that has been deprived of oxygen and nutrients build up in the blood, similar to how the water that pools in front of a dam collects dirt and debris. To clear the blockage, doctors insert and expand a small mesh tube called a stent to help restore blood flow. Opening the blocked blood vessel that causes the heart attack – or myocardial infarction – is the aim, but there is a negative side effect: a cascade of blood filled with built-up toxins flows into the smaller downstream blood vessels. This damages the sensitive endothelial cells that line the microvasculature and capillaries.
SPARK VT Initiative Supports UVM Researchers on the Path to Commercialization
SPARK facilitates the discovery-to-commercialization process for those researchers who, working through UVM Innovations, are have applied for patent or copyright protection of their intellectual property. We are pleased to note that the investments made to UVM Faculty through the SPARK Program have helped launch several successful companies, such as Benchmark Space Systems, Coremap, Wiser Systems and Packetized Energy.
Dr. Jeffrey Spees, a UVM associate professor of medicine, presented his research on "Cell-Kro," a grafting agent composed of insulin and a peptide derived from Connective Tissue Growth Factor. Cell-Kro has been shown in rodent models to improve the adhesion, proliferation, survival, and migration of cardiac stem cells grafted to a heart injured from a heart attack. When cardiac stem cells are injected sub-epicardially with Cell-Kro as a "backpack," Spees told the panel he saw much-improved graft success. In general, the field of regenerative medicine has struggled to successfully graft cells from culture back to injured tissue. With additional research, including large animal studies and clinical trials, this may mean that patients who suffer a heart attack could use stem cell therapy to improve their cardiac function. Whereas hundreds of thousands of patients suffer heart attacks annually in the U.S., Spees also noted that he market for Cell-Kro is "rapidly expanding and global."
