Cellular drivers of fibrosis in atrial fibrillation (Mr Oisin Cappa)
Atrial fibrillation (AF) – abnormal beating of the heart – often occurs because scar tissue has formed in the heart. This process is called fibrosis. The aim of this project is to understand more about the cells that cause fibrosis, to develop treatments that slow or prevent it. The project will use human heart atrial tissue donated by people with and without AF who have had heart surgery and use cutting-edge technology to decode the genes in individual heart cells. The different cell types will then be grouped according to their genetic make-up, making it possible to assess changes in the proportions of different types of cells as AF develops. They will also analyse sections of heart tissue with fluorescently labelled probes to see whether the protein molecules in the heart cells match the results from the genetic analysis. This will allow them to reveal exactly where in the heart tissue different molecules are located, revealing further clues about their role in the process of fibrosis. The discovery of how fibroblasts and other cell types change during the development of AF could guide the discovery of treatments to correct these heart rhythm abnormalities in future.
Project details
| Grant amount | £116,719 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Fellowships |
| Application type | PhD Studentship |
| Start Date | 01 October 2019 |
| Duration | 3 years |
| Reference | FS/19/28/34358 |
| Status | In Progress |
