A breakthrough by Queen’s researchers into regulating a single enzyme may lead to new drug therapies that will help prevent heart attacks and strokes. Led by professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology Donald Maurice, the study focuses on the effects of Viagra. The team’s findings will be published on-line in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The enzyme targeted by the Queen’s researchers is known to regulate the activity of platelets: small blood cells needed for normal blood clotting. Problems can arise when people have stents permanently implanted in their arteries to maintain blood flow. Their platelets sometimes bind to the stent and, if enough platelets accumulate to form a blockage, this may cause a sudden, massive heart attack or stroke to occur.
Drugs like Viagra have been shown to inhibit PDE5, explains Lindsay Wilson, a PhD student in Pathology and Molecular Medicine and first author on the study. Until now, however, it hasn’t been possible to isolate the small “pool” of activity within the cell where this is occurring. The Queen’s study shows that within each cell there are two different pools of the PDE5 enzyme, but that only one of them regulates platelet activation.
Release date: August 26, 2008
Source: Queen’s University