SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 21, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – U.S. scientists at University
of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have developed a new drug that can
restore the function of oxygen-starved heart tissue under the conditions of
hypoxia, according to the results of a new study released over the weekend.
The new drug called OMX-CV was developed by Omniox, Inc., one of the first
biotech startups launched in the incubator space on the UCSF’s Mission Bay
campus in 2010.
The biopharmaceutical company has been developing oxygen-delivery
therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, trauma and
other conditions in which low oxygen levels, or hypoxia, negatively impact
disease outcomes.
The new drug does not cause systemic side effects or overcorrect with
excessive blood oxygenation, which can itself be toxic. It delivers its
precious oxygen cargo only to the tissues that need it most.
The UCSF researchers have tested the treatment and found the new oxygen-
delivery therapeutic is capable of restoring the function of oxygen-starved
heart tissue in an animal model of global hypoxia.
Their findings were published in the journal PLOS Biology on Thursday.
The tissues of human body can suffer major damage if they are running low
on oxygen, and such hypoxic conditions can lead to long-term tissue damage or
even heart attacks.
“Any tissue with compromised blood flow, whether due to trauma, stroke, or
heart disease, could potentially be targeted by a treatment like this,” said
Emin Maltepe, associate professor of pediatrics at UCSF and co-senior author
of the study.
Unlike hemoglobin-based drugs that sometimes pump excess oxygen into
blood, which produces adverse side effects, OMX-CV sidesteps these problems
by employing an engineered bacterial protein known as H-NOX as its base,
rather than hemoglobin.
Maltepe and his team modified the chemical structure of H-NOX proteins and
reengineered them to hold tight to oxygen, but leave nitric oxide alone.
The modified proteins bind oxygen tightly until they met a severely
hypoxic tissue to release oxygen that was in bad need.
“OMX-CV is fine-tuned to only release oxygen under pathologic
conditions… Relatively small doses of the drug transform the capacity of
the heart to keep up in the face of severe hypoxia,” said Ana Krtolica, vice
president of research at Omniox and co-senior author of the study.
The U.S. scientists also hope that OMX-CV can be further applied to
pediatric care, particularly when it is used as an oxygen-delivering drug to
ease the physical stress of hypoxia and improve recovery following heart
attacks or after open heart surgery in both adults and children.