Dhingra lab files another patent in their effort to develop nanotechnology-based approaches to prevent heart transplant rejection.
In a first using titanium Mxene, the team under Dr. Sanjiv Dhingra, Principal Investigator Cardiac Regeneration and Tissue Engineering Program, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, and Associate Professor Regenerative Medicine Program, Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Manitoba, has shown it to be effective for the prevention of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), an aggressive form of coronary artery disease in patients with heart transplants, and a major cause of mortality.
A paper based on the study will be published next month in Nano Today, a prominent journal in the field with an impact factor of 20.7.
For Dhingra and his team of researchers here at St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre, their work is focused on studying immuno-engineering interventions using next-generation bio-compatible nanomaterials.
As Dhingra explained, “This work focuses on immuno-engineering interventions which could be helpful for people receiving organ transplants to avoid the need to rely on anti-rejection drugs, which they normally have to take for the rest of their lives.”
CAV affects around half of heart transplant recipients within 10 years. It contributes to the death of 11-13% of people one year from heart transplantation.
“No one has stopped CAV with MXene until now – the titanium carbide has the ability to prevent the activation of immune cells which triggers the beginnings of CAV. Our research shows prevention of that activation.”
In light of these promising results, Dhingra has filed a US patent on the application of titanium Carbide Mxene nano sheets for CAV to help prevent transplanted organ rejection. “This is our fourth US patent application for nano-material based interventions,” Dhingra indicated, adding that next steps for the team will be larger animal studies. “Our goal is to come up with something to prevent heart transplant rejections, so that patients will no longer be reliant on anti-rejection drugs and the complications they produce in the body.”
