New therapies to get blood flowing to diseased arteries

Working with scientists at the University of Newcastle, the team will modify a recently-developed drug to create a range of potential new therapies that target FKBPL and identify the most promising candidates.

“Because the therapeutic peptide drug based on FKBPL has already been used for cancer, we plan to modify it and make new peptides that can play a similar role by using polymeric and synthetic materials,” Associate Professor McClements said.

“This way we can improve the properties of drugs that are more efficient, last longer in the blood and potentially target specific mechanisms.”

The new therapies will then be tested using advanced 3D tissue engineering platforms, patient samples and in specific preclinical models.

These are the first steps towards developing drugs that can be progressed through pre-clinical and clinical trials, with the aim of having commercially available drugs available within the next decade.

The research will also seek to understand more about one of the mysteries of peripheral artery disease – why it disproportionately affects women and why they often have worse outcomes than men.

“We also want to understand the sex differences in how women respond to the treatment compared to male sex, and in the biological mechanism of the disease,” Associate Professor McClements said.

By exploring how FKBPL supports angiogenesis and healthy blood vessel growth, the team hope to gain insights into the treatment of other conditions such as preeclampsia, foetal growth restriction and heart disease.