Decoding a protein to fend off sepsis
By Nathan Seppa
From Orlando, Fla., at a meeting of the American Society of Hematology
Sepsis is a lethal blood disorder that typically arises from bacterial infections. It’s marked by organ damage caused by inflammation and blood vessel leakage. A synthetic version of activated protein C (ACP) is the sole drug approved to specifically attack sepsis, but it only slightly reduces the risk of death. Scientists had suggested that APC works by protecting healthy cells from dying and had found it to have anticoagulant effects.