Finding new ways to stop blood from clotting without increasing the risk of bleeding

Characterisation of novel mechanism(s) linking platelets with anticoagulation

Dr Helen Philippou and her team at the University of Leeds are looking for new ways to protect people who are diagnosed with heart and circulatory disease from developing further blood clots. Currently they receive an anti-platelet drug and an anti-clotting drug, which work in slightly different ways by targeting different groups of molecules in the blood. But it can be difficult to balance the benefits of preventing further clots with the potentially dangerous side effects of these drugs, which include excessive bleeding. Dr Philippou has identified a new way to stop the blood from clotting that does not pose as much of a risk of bleeding. She has found a number of small molecules that link the clotting and platelet processes together, by sticking to a molecule called Factor (F)XII that both stops the blood clotting, and stops platelets grouping together to form a plug. In this project, Dr Philippou will work out how this process works in detail. She will identify how the small molecules stick to FXII, how FXII sticks to another clotting protein called fibrinogen, and how platelet clumping is linked to both FXII and fibrinogen. This research could reveal a new way to prevent clots in people with heart and circulatory disease more effectively and safely, by targeting both the clotting system and platelets with a single drug.