Could a ‘protein trap’ help to treat heart and circulatory disease?

An angiopoietin-2-specific ligand-trap with potential to treat cardiovascular disease

Professor Nicholas Brindle and his team at the University of Leicester are investigating an unusual new way to try and treat heart and circulatory disease. Angiopoietin 2, or Ang2, is a protein that is normally produced at very low levels in the body. But in several diseases affecting the heart and blood vessels Ang2 is suddenly made in very large amounts, and makes blood vessels leaky. Professor Brindle and his team have used a new technique to change a normal protein found in the body to one which binds to Ang2. They have called this protein Ang2-trap, because it ‘traps’ Ang2 and stops it from damaging blood vessels. In this project, the researchers will work to make Ang2-trap better, so that it only traps Ang2 without trapping other molecules. They will also work out if Ang2-trap can prevent the bad effects of Ang2 on blood vessels in mice. This research could reveal whether Ang2-trap has the potential to be developed into a drug to treat people with heart and blood vessel diseases.