Delineating the different regulatory pathways involved in coronary vessel formation during development and disease
Dr Sarah de Val and her colleagues at the University of Oxford are working out how new blood vessels grow during development and after a heart attack, to find clues on how to repair damaged heart muscle. After a heart attack, new blood vessels must grow to restore blood supply and repair the heart muscle. For new heart blood vessels to form and grow, several cell types need to communicate and contribute to the developing vessel. We don’t yet understand how these cells communicate, are organised into blood vessels in the developing heart or what happens after the heart becomes damaged. Dr de Val has discovered several molecules that help cells within the developing heart become particular cell types. In this project, she will study what these molecules do during heart blood vessel growth in early development and after a heart attack. She will also investigate the role of a particular molecule called WNT in heart blood vessel growth. This study will tell us how blood vessel growth is switched on and off during heart development and after a heart attack. As a result, Dr de Val’s research could help reveal new ways of growing new blood vessels in damaged heart muscle.
Project details
| Grant amount | £77,957 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Project Grants |
| Application type | Project Grant |
| Start Date | 01 July 2016 |
| Duration | 1 year |
| Reference | PG/16/34/32135 |
| Status | Complete |
