The Mayo Clinic has received a $2.5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, to study the effects of an engineered guanylyl cyclase (GC) activator called cenderitide on cardiac and renal injuries following a heart attack.
Cenderitide was invented by Mayo Clinic researchers using venom from the green mamba (Dendroaspis angusticeps), a venomous snake native to Africa. This grant will help researchers determine if cenderitide therapy can prevent the breakdown of cardiac and renal function after a heart attack and reduce further heart failure in patients treated with the experimental medicine. Researchers believe cenderitide, which activates two subtypes of GC receptors, can aid cardiac and renal function following a heart attack or heart failure. In November 2011, Mayo Clinic research fellow Fernando Martin, M.D., presented data showing cenderitide could stop the death of heart cells. The $2.5 million grant will support laboratory research and a proof-of-concept clinical study, enrolling 60 patients in Minnesota and Florida.
