Medicine to Regenerate Heart after a Heart Attack.

Ever heard of Myocardial Infarction (MI), well it is a fancy term for Heart attack. It is a cardiovascular disease that causes more than 26 million people to suffer every year. Even if some people survive a heart attack, they are left with serious damage to the heart muscle causing them to live a restricted life. However, AstraZeneca and Moderna Therapeutics may be more than ever close to putting an end to this suffering.

Before I go ahead explaining the fruitful results of their ongoing so-far-successful research, you should know what causes a heart attack. It is caused by the failure of coronary arteries to supply blood to the muscles of the heart, eventually leading to the death of heart muscles due to oxygen deprivation. This failure can be caused by a blockage in the coronary artery due to the formation of a clot, build up cholesterol and other fatty deposits, dysfunctional blood vessel regulation causing vascular refraction, etc.

Their breakthrough revolves around the protein called vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). This protein signals the body to stimulate the formation of new blood vessels and protects the heart muscles from dying. It can also activate stem cells to migrate and differentiate to cardiomyocytes to repair the damaged muscles. It is a naturally occurring protein that can be synthesized. It is secreted by many different types of cells such as the innermost layer of blood vessels (Endothelium), Cardiomyocytes/ heart muscle cells, and stem cells.

We have known about this protein for more than 20 years but have only met with limited success. However, the collaboration between AstraZeneca and Moderna Therapeutics involves the use of a very different approach. They are using messenger RNA (mRNA) which is a copy of DNA used to transfer information to cells machinery to synthesize a protein. In this case, mRNA is engineered in a lab and then injected in the heart muscle cells to make the protein VEGF-A. By using mRNA, we can regulate the amount of VEGF-A needed to be synthesized and can reduce the risk of side effects. This strand of mRNA coding for VEGF-A can also be directly injected into the blood in the presence of a buffer solution.

VEGF- A can improve the effects of myocardial infarctions by stimulating the growth of blood vessels around the damaged heart muscles, improve the ability of blood vessels to dilate, help migrate stem cells to repair and regenerate heart muscles and enhance blood vessel formation.

Works Cited

“Cardiovascular Diseases.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, www.who.int/health-topics/cardiovascular-diseases/#tab=tab_1.

“Moderna Blog.” Moderna, Inc., www.modernatx.com/moderna-blog/mrna-to-boost-vegf-a-07032018.

Regina Fritsche-Danielson Senior Vice President and Head of Early Cardiovascular, et al. “Entering a New Era in Vascular and Cardiac Regeneration Research.” AstraZeneca, www.astrazeneca.com/what-science-can-do/stories/entering-a-new-era-in-vascular-and-cardiac-regeneration-research.html.