Molecular dictator with a conscience

University of NSW researchers led by Professor Levon Khachigian have uncovered an important naturally occurring mechanism in the body in which 'bad' cells that cause blockages in our blood vessels are kept under strict growth control, while 'good' cells that keep our blood vessels free of clots and growths are left unaffected.

The discovery is expected to benefit those who will need heart coronary bypass surgery, an angioplasty or to undergo haemodialysis.

Khachigian, from UNSW's Centre for Vascular Research, who previously pioneered molecular assassin drug technology, described the novel mechanism he discovered as "a molecular dictatorship with a conscience".

"The dictator is a specific gene suppressor called YY1, which has the therapeutically appealing capacity to differentiate between certain cell types when it goes about its activity," Khachigian said.

"While the most effective way to head off restenosis is a drug-coated stent, the drugs that sit on these stents inhibit the growth of good cells as well as the bad."

"If you had to have catheter intervention to re-open an occluded artery, for sustained symptom-free benefit you would be hoping for suppressed smooth muscle cell growth, without affecting endothelial cell growth.

"And that's exactly what happens when we simply top up blood vessels with the body's natural reserves of YY1."

Khachigian is seeking commercial partnerships that can apply this technology in the clinic.

His study has been published in Circulation Research.