Cardiovascular Antibodies

Coagulation, Inflammation, & Cardiovascular Disease

Blood coagulation is a multi-step process to stop hemorrhage as it occurs, e.g., after an injury. The coagulation cascade is tightly controlled by numerous coagulation factors and can be divided into the intrinsic, extrinsic, and common pathway (See figure 1). The extrinsic or tissue factor pathway is initially triggered by exposure of the extravascularly expressed tissue factor (TF) to circulating factor VII after trauma. Whereas the intrinsic or contact activation pathway begins with the formation of the primary complex on endothelial collagen and the subsequent activation of factor XII by proteolytic cleavage, resulting in the two-chain factor XIIa. Lastly, the common pathway where fibrinogen (Factor I), a soluble glycoprotein from the liver, is converted to the insoluble fibrin by thrombin (Factor IIa).

Figure 1: Overview of the classical intrinsic, extrinsic, and common coagulation pathways and the associated coagulation system factors (Created with BioRender.com)

An increasing amount of evidence supports the role of coagulation factors in inflammatory diseases. It was shown that factor XIIa contributes to inflammation through the activation of the kallikrein-kinin system, a metabolic cascade that is involved in many physiological processes including the control of arterial blood pressure. It is therefore not surprising that disturbances in this system are associated with arterial hypertension and myocardial ischemia. In-depth research on SARS-CoV-2 over the past three years has also been able to establish a link between COVID-19, inflammation, and the coagulation cascade. Research has shown that SARS-CoV-2 induces procoagulant factors and proinflammatory cytokines which can activate the coagulation cascade and lead to systematic thrombosis formation. Thus, thromboembolism prophylaxis and anticoagulation strategies play an important role in the treatment of severe COVID-19 cases and are among the standard measures for hospitalized patients.

With the rise of metabolic diseases in our society, the detection and treatment of cardiac disorders will grow in importance in the decades to come. Antibody-based tools will help to further advance research in this area and reveal new and more specific therapeutic strategies.

Further Reading

• Foley, J. H., & Conway, E. M. (2016). Cross Talk Pathways Between Coagulation and Inflammation. Circulation research, 118(9), 1392–1408.
• Nickel, K. F., Long, A. T., Fuchs, T. A., Butler, L. M., & Renné, T. (2017). Factor XII as a Therapeutic Target in Thromboembolic and Inflammatory Diseases. Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, 37(1), 13–20.
• Lamers, M. M., & Haagmans, B. L. (2022). SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. Nature reviews. Microbiology, 20(5), 270–284.

Inflammation, Cytokines, & Growth Factor Antibodies

Heart inflammation including endocarditis, myocarditis, and pericarditis can be caused by numerous factors, such as viral or bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases, or certain medications. Rockland offers individual antibodies and ELISA kits for selected biomarkers of heart inflammation, as well as some general inflammation and cytokine targets.

Clotting Pathway Antibodies

As mentioned in the ‘Coagulation Factors and Inflammation’ section, blood coagulation is the process of forming a clot to stop hemorrhage as it occurs.

Angiogenesis, Structure & Hypertension Antibodies

Angiogenesis is the development of new blood vessels and is regulated by various physiological stimulations. In addition to providing structural support, the extracellular matrix (ECM), which is composed of a variety of macromolecules including collagen, elastin, and various glycoproteins, is vital in the angiogenesis stimulus process^1,2 Blood vessels are essential to distribute blood, oxygen, and nutrients throughout your body via arteries, veins, and capillaries. When the pressure of blood against the arterial wall is higher than normal, this is referred to as hypertension, which can lead to heart disease, heart attack, or stroke. In this section, we list antibodies that relate to angiogenesis stimulators, ECM components, and hypertension biomarkers.

Atherosclerosis Antibodies

Atherosclerosis is an arterial disease characterized by artery hardening, typically due to plaque buildup, which can be caused by high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or high triglycerides. Recent research has also attributed more significance to the role inflammation^3,4 may play in the disease, as well as the importance of the microbiome and the influence of various environmental factors^5,6. Below are several antibodies to proteins involved in cholesterol homeostasis; HDL, LDL, and lipid biosynthesis and metabolism components; and selected inflammation markers. Additional inflammation markers can be found in the Inflammation, Cytokine & Growth Factors section.

Cardiac Function Antibodies

The below list consists of targets associated with general cardiac function including regulation of cardiac muscle contraction and Ca²⁺ fluxes. Additional targets for various cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial ischemia, myocardial infarction, heart failure, and cardiomyopathy are also included.

Blood Products and Blood Cell Antibodies

Blood is an important component of the cardiovascular system. It is composed of platelets, plasma, Red Blood Cells (RBCs), and White Blood Cells (WBCs). In addition to nutrients, oxygenated blood is pumped from the heart throughout the body via arteries and deoxygenated blood is returned to the heart via veins. Both blood and serum (the clear portion of blood devoid of blood cells and platelets) play a pivotal role in the testing of biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases. Below we show select cardiovascular biomarkers, our new proprietary-developed ghost red blood cells, as well as animal blood products produced by Rockland. Additional host species are available for a variety of RBCs and serums.

References

1. Neve, A., Cantatore, F. P., Maruotti, N., Corrado, A., & Ribatti, D. (2014). Extracellular matrix modulates angiogenesis in physiological and pathological conditions. BioMed research international, 2014, 756078.
2. Hosseinabadi, M., Abdolmaleki, Z., & Beheshtiha, S. (2021). Cardiac aorta-derived extracellular matrix scaffold enhances critical mediators of angiogenesis in isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction mice. Journal of materials science. Materials in medicine, 32(11), 134.
3. Libby P. (2012). Inflammation in atherosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, 32(9), 2045–2051.
4. Björkegren, J., & Lusis, A. J. (2022). Atherosclerosis: Recent developments. Cell, 185(10), 1630–1645.
5. Chen, P. B., Black, A. S., Sobel, A. L., Zhao, Y., Mukherjee, P., Molparia, B., Moore, N. E., Aleman Muench, G. R., Wu, J., Chen, W., Pinto, A., Maryanoff, B. E., Saghatelian, A., Soroosh, P., Torkamani, A., Leman, L. J., & Ghadiri, M. R. (2020). Directed remodeling of the mouse gut microbiome inhibits the development of atherosclerosis. Nature biotechnology, 38(11), 1288–1297.
6. Ji, L., Chen, S., Gu, G., Zhou, J., Wang, W., Ren, J., Wu, J., Yang, D., & Zheng, Y. (2021). Exploration of Crucial Mediators for Carotid Atherosclerosis Pathogenesis Through Integration of Microbiome, Metabolome, and Transcriptome. Frontiers in physiology, 12, 645212.