Bypass Surgery Might Be History Soon…

In a ground breaking discovery that may eventually render bypass surgery history, 

researchers at Tel Aviv University [Arbas are busy in making tallest 

buildings

 in word and fighting among 

themselves

] have shown that an injected protein can 

regrow blood vessels in the human heart. 

In heart disease, blood vessels are either clogged or die off, starving the heart of

oxygen and leaving it highly susceptible to a cardiac attack. 

Dr. Britta Hardy of TAU’s Sackler School of Medicine and her team of researchers 

have developed a protein-based injection that when delivered straight to muscles 

in the body, sparks the regrowth of tiny blood vessels.

The new vessels in the heart could give millions of people  around 

 the world a new lease on life. 

“The biotechnology behind our human-based protein therapy is very complicated, 

but the goal is simple and the solution is straightforward. We intend to inject our 

 drug locally to heal any oxygen-starved tissue.

So far in animal models, we’ve seen no side effects and no inflammation 

 following our injection of the drug into the legs. The growth of new blood 

vessels happens within a few weeks, showing improved blood circulation,”

 said Hardy.

The protein solution can also be added as a coating to a stent. Usually, 

the implantation of a stent is accompanied by a high risk for blood clots, 

which necessitates the use of blood thinners.

“We could coat a stent with our peptide, attracting endothelial stem cells to 

form a film on the surface of the stent. These endothelial cells on the stent 

would eliminate the need for taking the blood thinners that prevent blood 

clots from forming,” said Hardy.

If investment goals are met, the researchers are hoping that toxicity studies and 

Phase I trials could be complete within two years.

The researchers began the study for preventing leg amputations, positing that 

proteins from the human body could be used to trigger the growth of new blood vessels.

Hardy started by studying a library of peptides and testing them in the laboratory 

and later confirmed initial results. She then took some of the isolated and 

synthesized peptides and tested them in diabetic mice whose legs 

were in the process of dying.

Although diabetes is known to decrease blood circulation, Hardy found that 

her therapy reversed the decrease. “Within a short time we saw the formation 

 of capillaries and tiny blood vessels.

After three weeks, they had grown and merged together with the rest of the

circulatory system,” she said. In mice with limited blood circulation, she was 

 able to completely restore blood vessels and save their legs. 

It was then a short step to studying the applicability of the research to 

cardiac patients. “It”s pretty obvious if there is regrowth or not. 

Our technology promises to regrow blood vessels like a net, and a heart that 

grows more blood vessels becomes stronger. It’s now imaginable that, in the 

 distant future, peptide injections may be able to replace bypass surgeries,” 

concluded Hardy. 

The study has been published in Biochemical Pharmacology