Explore New Virginia Tech startup seeks to use nano-capsules derived from milk to deliver heart drug
Scientists at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have started a new biotechnology company to apply one of nature’s courier systems to deliver a potentially life-saving medication.
The work, led by Robert Gourdie, director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s Center for Heart and Reparative Medicine Research, takes advantage of nanoscale bubbles called exosomes.
But instead of shuttling biomolecules and genetic material throughout the body, these exosomes derived from cow’s milk will deliver a promising new drug to help patients after a damaging cardiac event.
In a study published in August in the Journal of the American Heart Association, Gourdie and colleagues showed that the alphaCT11 molecule had cardioprotective effects in mice, preventing the spread of cell death in heart muscle tissue – even when administered 20 minutes after a heart attack.
To learn more, check out the whole article below.