Dr. Kevin Strange is the CEO and co-founder of Novo Biosciences, a biotechnology company focused on regenerating the heart and other organs. We recently had the opportunity to interview him about MSI-1436 (trodusquemine), a compound that promotes regeneration in multiple animal models.
What, if anything, happens to existing scar tissue in the presence of MSI-1436?
More detailed studies need to be conducted to fully understand how MSI-1436 impacts existing scar tissue. However, our published work is very encouraging. We induced ischemic injury in the adult mouse heart by permanently ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery. This is a standard heart attack model. Twenty-four hours after ligation of the artery, we began treating with MSI-1436 or vehicle (placebo). Hearts were isolated from mice for histological analysis 3 days and 28 days after injury and collagen deposition (i.e., scarring) was quantified. In hearts isolated after 3 days, the scarring index measured as area was the same, ~40%, in both MSI-1436- and vehicle-treated mice. In other words, there was no difference in the extent of initial scarring in the two groups of animals.