Does ischaemic preconditioning reduce myofibroblast activation in human hearts?

Does ischaemic preconditioning reduce myofibroblast activation in human hearts?

Advisor/s

Lisa Chilton, Robert Kinobe, Pankaj Sexena

College or Research Centre

College of Public Health, Medical & Veterinary Science

Summary of Project

Ischaemia refers to reduced blood supply to the heart, starving the heart of oxygen and nutrients. This is a common pathological event in people with coronary artery disease (CHD), and often causes heart attacks. Brief bouts of ischaemia may prevent a more prolonged ischaemia from causing as much cell death, an adaptation called ischaemic preconditioning (IPC). Fibroblasts, which are responsible for the extracellular matrix of the heart, differentiate into myofibroblasts following ischaemia. Myofibroblasts may cause pathological collagen deposition known as fibrosis. We will study the effect of IPC on fibroblasts in heart samples from patients with CDH and valve disease.

Key Words

cardiac; fibroblast; myofibroblast; human

Would suit an applicant who

is interested in biomedicine, both pure, mechanistic research and more translational human research.

Updated: 07 Apr 2020