NEW YORK, Sept. 4-Researchers at GeneProt and Novartis are working with cardiologists at Duke University Medical Center to characterize distinctive protein expression patterns in heart disease patients, the university said yesterday.
The researchers are using an "industrial-scale" approach to protein analysis in order to uncover the subtle differences between protein levels in healthy people and people with coronary artery disease.
Duke has identified appropriate patients and provided access to clinical samples through its large database of cardiovascular patients. GeneProt is analyzing proteins of interest, and synthesizing some of them for further study by researchers at Novartis.
The collaborators have identified 106 matched healthy controls and heart disease patients, and plan to analyze a total of six liters of blood from each group. These large volumes of blood are necessary, according to the researchers, in order to accurately identify proteins relevant to disease.
At Duke, the study is led by Chris Granger, a cardiologist at the university's clinical research institute.
For further information, see the press release.