Monash team receives BioCurate support to develop anti-thrombotic treatment

Professor Christoph Hagemeyer in the lab. His team has received
BioCurate Proof of Concept funding for developing a therapy that
targets acute thrombosis.

Professor Christoph Hagemeyer, Head of the NanoBiotechnology Laboratory at Monash University, and his team have received Proof of Concept funding from BioCurate to develop a first-in-class antibody-based therapy that specifically targets acute thrombosis, the cause of many heart attacks, strokes and vascular blockages.

Myocardial infarction and stroke are the two single most common causes of death worldwide due, in part, to limitations with current medicines. Professor Hagemeyer’s team has developed a novel approach to inhibiting thrombosis by “uncoupling” this inhibition from adverse effects such as severe bleeding.

See story on the faculty news feed.

Genetic risk factor for clotting after COVID-19 infection

Which people who catch COVID-19 have a higher risk of
developing blood clots? A Monash-Baker study investigated.

With blood clots caused by COVID-19 already associated with a higher risk of death, it is important to understand which groups are vulnerable and how best to treat them. 

New information is emerging on COVID-associated blood clots in people with inherited thrombotic conditions such as the common Factor V Leiden, which affects about in one in every 20 or 25 people in Australia.

Antibody engineered to prevent clotting in stroke and heart attack

A/Prof Christoph Hagemeyer and Dr Erik Westein explain

the research to stop pathological blood clotting. See video

Monash researchers have invented an antibody which can prevent the formation of bad clots, such as those in stroke and heart attack.

Heart attack and stroke remain the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Current anti-thrombotic (anti-clotting) therapies can, and do, cause severe bleeding complications because they also interfere with normal blood clotting. Four out of five patients who receive antiplatelet therapy still have recurring cardiovascular events.

New drug blocks formation of killer clots to prevent strokes and heart attacks

Four of the co-authors on the paper, L-R: Ms Natasha Setiabakti,
Associate Professor Justin Hamilton,(senior author)
Ms Nurul Aisha Zainal Abidin, Dr Mitch Moon

Monash researchers have found a potential drug that can be given as a preventive against heart attack.

The drug – which has been studied in human cells and animal models – literally blocks the minute changes in blood flow that precede a heart attack and acts on the platelets preventing the platelet-triggered clot from forming before it can kill or cause damage.

One-third of all deaths globally – 18 million a year - are caused by cardiovascular disease, largely heart attack or stroke, both of which are triggered by clots blocking the vessels in the brain or heart.

Monash study points to new blood test for cardiovascular risk

Dr Prahlad Ho presenting at ASH15
meeting. Image: @marrow

by Anne Crawford

It has long been a conundrum for clinicians and researchers pondering cardiovascular disease; a 90-year-old overweight man who has been smoking heavily all his life is admitted to hospital with an unrelated condition and is found to have a healthy heart while a fit 25-year-old athlete elsewhere inexplicably dies of a massive heart attack.

Now, scientists from the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Monash University, Northern Health and the University of Melbourne are collaboratively evaluating a new blood test that could add to the surrogate measures currently used clinically as an assessment of cardiovascular risk. Currently no such blood test exists, they say.

New blood test a boon to clot research

PhD student Hannah Pearce with Dr Thomas
Bonnard, first author on the paper describing
a new test for measuring thrombolytic activity

by Anne Crawford

Monash University researchers have developed a novel blood assay that is proving highly effective in researching thrombosis (blood clotting) and which could potentially become a valuable tool in clinical translation.

Heart attack and stroke – leading causes of death and disability in Australia – are mostly caused by thrombosis. Researchers around the world are striving to improve anti-thrombotic treatments that counter the life-threatening blood clots without the associated side-effect of excessive bleeding.

Epilepsy drug a potential treatment for heart attack and stroke

The molecule t-PA (tissue plasminogen activator) is a natural
blood clot buster and can be elevated with an epilepsy drug,
valproic acid. Image: Emw - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

by Anne Crawford

Monash University researchers have struck on a novel strategy to counter the blood clotting (thrombosis) that causes conditions including heart attack and ischemic stroke – major causes of death in Australia. Significantly, they have also found that an existing drug, coincidentally used for epilepsy, could potentially be used as a treatment to prevent thrombosis.

Professor Robert Medcalf, who heads the Molecular Neurotrauma and Haemostasis laboratory in the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD), said the research started with work exploring the regulation of the molecule t-PA (tissue plasminogen activator), a naturally occurring clot-busting enzyme in the body. The enzyme is rapidly released by the damaged endothelium (lining) of the blood vessel when clotting is initiated to limit the growth of the blood clot.

Blood clot study points to new drug target

Shauna French and Dr Justin Hamilton analysing results

by Anne Crawford

Arterial thrombosis – blood clot in an artery – can lead to several serious conditions including heart attack and stroke, and is the most common cause of death and disability in Australia. A Monash PhD student at the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD) has conducted research demonstrating a potential new solution to the clotting that causes the problem.

Existing drugs aiming to prevent arterial thrombosis by acting on the platelets that form blood clots have limitations in efficacy and/or safety, some causing excessive bleeding.

New blood clot buster discovered

Dr Justin Hamilton with one of his students,
Natasha Setiabakti (BMedSc(Hons)).

Researchers have made a discovery that could lead to new therapies for treating heart attack and stroke patients.

Published in Nature Communications, the study led by Monash researchers has uncovered a unique approach to prevent platelet function, responsible for forming blood clots.

Blood clots are the cause of heart attacks and most strokes, which are the most common cause of death and disability in the world.

Dr Justin Hamilton,  Head of the Platelet & Megakaryocyte Cell Biology Lab in the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD) at Monash University, said drugs that prevented platelet function were the leading approach for heart attack and stroke prevention. However, many patients do not respond to current therapies.