Promising Techniques for Extending the Life of an Organ Transplant ...
The work using protein therapeutics aims to reduce the risk of an organ being damaged in the hours and days following a transplant, by maintaining the quality of the donor organ prior to transplantation. Currently, organs cannot survive outside the body for more than around 24 hours. In daily life when an infection or virus meets cells or fluids in the body, it activates a part of the immune system, known as the 'complement' system, which attacks and attempts to destroy the cells of the intruder organism. The complement system is usually kept in check by 'regulators' which are found on the surface of the cells. Their presence prevents it from attacking the body's own cells. However, when an organ is removed for transplantation, complement regulators are lost from the surface of cells due to the lack of blood flow and consequent lack of oxygen. Unregulated, the complement system begins to attack the organ's own cells, severely damaging it. Once the transplant is complete, the effect can be amplified as the complement system supports the recipient's own blood cells in its attack on the organ -- resulting in organ rejection. Working with the biotechnology industry, scientists at the MRC Centre for Transplantation have evolved a method for coating the inner surface of donor kidneys with a protective layer made from a substance which is a natural regulator of these proteins in humans.



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PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals uses elastin-like peptides to improve intravenous delivery of protein/peptide therapeutics ()