Upregulating Kallistatin To Limit Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$668,974.00
Summary
Artery weakening or aneurysm is an important cause of mortality in older adults. Currently there are only surgical therapies for artery weakening. Novel drug therapies are needed for artery weakening. In this project the role of a protein which may inhibit artery weakening is investigated. We also investigate the role of a drug to modulate this protein. The project will include studies in pre-clinical models and a pilot clinical trial in patients.
While most leukemia patients initially respond well to chemotherapy, >60% die because the disease returns as a result of the survival of leukaemia cells following treatment. We have identified a new protein, osteopontin (OPN), that may allow the survival of leukaemia cells and therefore reduce the ability of chemotherapy to erradicate disease. We seek to examine the role of OPN in leukemia with a view toward developing targetted therapies in the future.