Discovery

In the United States and many other industrialized countries, heart disease is the leading cause of death. It is mentioned in Encarta that according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 710,000 people in the United States die of heart disease each year.

Fortunately, new research by Rockefeller University scientists found a new molecule that hopefully can be a key to anti-heart attack drug. They suggest that it should be possible to create a clot-busting pill that targets a receptor on the blood cells’ surface, something that high-risk patients could take at the first sign of chest pain.

The Rockefeller scientists say, the key to such a pill is a receptor called ?IIb?3 on the platelets’ surface that is intimately involved in the aggregation process. The ?IIb?3 receptor is made up of two halves: the ?IIb subunit and the ?3 subunit. Previous attempts to create ?IIb?3 inhibitors that could be taken orally led to drugs that bind to both halves; this blocks other platelets from attaching, but also changes the configuration of the receptor to its “on” position.

Adapted from Materials Provided By ScienceDaily
Credit : Encarta