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CNSE professor awarded NIH grant to revolutionize production of heparin

How can a cell be convinced to do something that nature did not intend for it to do? CNSE Associate Professor of Nanobioscience Dr. Susan Sharfstein was awarded an $836,000 grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to do just that and, in the process, persuade cells to produce a life-saving drug.

With help from the NIH, Dr. Sharfstein is working to enable Chinese hamster ovary cells to produce heparin. Heparin is widely used in medicine as an anticoagulant for treatment of a number of conditions and is currently purified from mast cells, primarily pig intestines obtained from China. After initial purification, the crude heparin is sent to the U.S. or Europe for final purification and packaging.

The necessity to change the manufacturing process came about after a disastrous contamination in March 2008, which prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a recall of heparin from China. This contamination resulted in 81 deaths and hundreds of serious illnesses.

“By creating heparin from hamster cells, we will be able to control and regulate the manufacturing process,” says Dr. Sharfstein. “Producing heparin in a controlled environment will create a safer treatment for patients.”

Dr. Sharfstein and her team draw parallels to the production of insulin as they pursue their research. Until about thirty years ago, insulin was derived from animal pancreas before researchers developed the recombinant human form of insulin that is currently in use today, eliminating the risks of allergic reactions and contamination by animal viruses. The difference, however, is that insulin is a protein and heparin is a sugar, which makes it more difficult to produce.

To achieve the desired results, Dr. Sharfstein is using genetic engineering to develop this pioneering production of heparin by placing several genes in the hamster cell to alter the way it works. Similar to the recombinant production of insulin, Dr. Sharfstein and her team are hoping to transform the way heparin is manufactured.

Nanotechnology provides creative ways to advance Dr. Sharfstein’s pursuit.

“With the unmatched resources at CNSE, we are able to use microarrays so that gene delivery can be done on the nanoscale allowing for high-throughput screening methods,” says Dr. Sharfstein. “This process allows us to test the genes at a very rapid rate and accelerate the R&D process.”

Dr. Sharfstein’s NIH grant is among a number of awards that contributed to nearly $5 million in federal funding recently received by faculty and researchers at the NanoCollege to support innovative research and groundbreaking education.