The research team of Professor Akiyuki Komatsu of Chuo University has succeeded in developing artificial blood for cats.It is an innovative invention that solves the serious problem of blood transfusion shortage in the veterinary medical field, and is expected to make a great contribution to animal blood transfusion therapy.
In recent years, the aging and obesity of pets has progressed, and the frequency of blood transfusions in veterinary medicine has been increasing, but the on-site system is not sufficient.Since there is no animal blood storage system in the country, veterinarians must search for donors and prepare blood when blood transfusion is required.The demand for artificial oxygen carriers, especially artificial oxygen carriers that can replace red blood cells, is extremely high, and its development and realization have been strongly desired.
The research team first produced recombinant cat serum albumin and elucidated its three-dimensional structure from X-ray crystal structure analysis.Furthermore, the cluster "Hemoact-F" (formation name) in which hemoglobin, which is an oxygen transport protein, is wrapped in recombinant cat serum albumin is synthesized, and it functions as an artificial oxygen carrier (red blood cell substitute) for cats. Clarified.The artificial oxygen carrier is artificial blood that can be administered to a living body instead of blood transfusion.The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) provides an opportunity for protein crystallization experiments at the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" on the International Space Station to crystallize the recombinant cat serum albumin used in the analysis. I was in charge of crystallization and structural analysis.
Hemoact-F has a wide range of uses and applications, not only as a substitute for red blood cells (resuscitation fluid for bleeding shock, replenisher fluid during intraoperative bleeding, oxygen supply fluid during hospital delivery, etc.), but also due to heart failure, cerebral infarction, respiratory failure, etc. Applications such as oxygen supply to ischemic sites, supplements for extracorporeal circulation circuits, and sensitizers for cancer treatment are expected, and great contribution to animal blood transfusion therapy is expected.
Paper information:[Journal of Materials Chemistry B] Core-shell protein cluster comprising haemoglobin and recombinant feline serum albumin as an artificial O2 carrier for cats
