TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 5 35 It's interesting that you can take something so deadly and turn it into something that has the potential to save lives. — JEFF HARTGERINK, PH.D. Professor of Chemistry and Bioengineering at Rice University properties are rather well known and it does not pose a toxicity threat by itself, particularly in this application. The hydrogel Kumar and Hartgerink developed only uses nanograms of batroxobin and allows them to localize the material to a specific injection site, eliminating possible risks of using too high of a concentration and the mate- rial traveling to other places. One of the primary uses Hartgerink and Kumar see for their hydrogel is in surgical settings where precision and accuracy are critical for successful outcomes. "For traumatic bleeding, there are quite a number of ways people have used to stop bleeding. If you think about it, if you've had a life- threatening injury, anything that will stop the bleeding is good. It doesn't have to be some wonderfully tailored material," Hartgerink said. "But in a surgical bleeding case, particularly if you're heparinized, you don't want to use what's basically glorified clay, what's used to stop bleeding in trau- matic situations, because of other problems it causes—including burns and other things." Heparin, a common blood thinner administered in drip form to patients before surgery to reduce the risk of blood clots, blocks off the functions of thrombin, an enzyme that plays a factor in the blood coagulation process. But batroxobin is unique in that it is not inhibited by the presence of heparin. This is particularly important in the surgical arena. If a patient is on anti- coagulant therapy, it's not uncommon for doctors to reject them for different surgeries because of the bleeding risk, but batroxobin will work regardless of heparin. By the way batroxobin works when it's within the hydrogel, the mate- rial is designed to more accurately and precisely control bleeding. "The [hydrogel's] scaffold provides an anchor to localize the response," Kumar said. In the case of surgical bleeding, the batroxobin serves as a chemical barrier, while the hydrogel acts as a physical barrier. "It's like a double whammy." This precision is in part due to the nature of the thixotropic hydrogel. Once loaded into the syringe, the hydrogel maintains its gel state until it is pushed through the needle. The sheer force applied to the material as it goes through the needle turns the hydrogel into a liquid, then returns to its solidi- fied state as soon as it comes out of the other end of the needle, delivering the material into a localized area. "This is exactly how ketchup works," Hartgerink explained. "If you put ketchup in a bottle, it's this thick mate- rial that you can squirt out just fine and then resolidifies on your hamburger, so it doesn't go dripping all over the place. That's exactly the same thing when we apply [the hydrogel]." For Kumar, the science was a met at a rare intersection of social media and applicability to decade-long research. One of Kumar's friends had posted on a social media platform a BBC News article in which people extracted venom from a snake's fangs and added a drop of the poisonous secretion into a cup of blood. Within a minute, the blood reacted with the venom and congealed into solid form, sparking Kumar's interest and prompting him to share his curiosity with Hartgerink. Within 18 months of seeing the video, Kumar and Hartgerink were able to conduct the study, test the research and publish their findings. Although Kumar and Hartgerink were able to publish their findings in a short period of time, they said it will take two to three years before it is approved for clinical trials and another five or more years of evaluation. Medical Oncology and Hematology 2016: Multidisciplinary Approaches that Improve Coordination of Care February 18-19, 2016 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center • Houston, Texas • Case discussions with faculty to include diagnosis & treatment • Full day Primary Care track to include prevention and cancer management for geriatric patients • Medical Oncology and Hematology sessions to include Proton erapy and Integrative Medicine Please visit www.mdanderson.org/conferences to register! e University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. e University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center designates this live activity for a maximum of 16.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

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