CXCL12 in coronary artery and cardiac development
Most deaths from coronary heart disease are caused by a heart attack, and there are a significant number of heart attacks in the UK each year. Heart attacks are caused by blockages to the blood vessels that supply the heart – the coronary arteries. Understanding how new blood vessels form may reveal new ways to restore the blood supply to the heart in the future. Professor Peter Scambler and colleagues are studying how the heart develops in the embryo and how cells come together in the embryo to form vessels capable of supplying heart muscle with oxygen. They hope that it may reveal clues to how new blood vessels could be formed. They have discovered that a molecule that controls how cells communicate called CXCL12 is important in this process. They have now been awarded a BHF grant to explore this molecule further, and work out how it is important for formation of heart valves and walls of the heart, and coronary artery development. This work may help to design new ways of treating heart disease by revealing ways to create new, stable arteries.
Project details
| Grant amount | £284,663 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Project Grants |
| Application type | Project Grant |
| Start Date | 01 January 2015 |
| Duration | 3 years |
| Reference | PG/14/35/30837 |
| Status | Complete |
