Searching for molecules in the blood to prevent or treat heart disease

Drug target validation and risk prediction for coronary heart disease using targeted blood-based metabolomics and proteomics

Although research has revealed the main causes of heart disease, there is still much detail we don’t know. In this fellowship, Dr Holmes intends to analyse the blood in intricate detail to determine whether certain molecules and processes cause heart disease. He will use approaches called metabolomics and proteomics which make it possible to analyse the metabolites (products of normal growth and development in the body) and protein molecules in the blood. In this way, he can compare levels of these molecules from diseased and healthy samples across many individuals, making it possible to link specific molecules to heart disease. He is focusing on molecules involved in transporting cholesterol in and out of cells, fat molecules (triglycerides) that make up different types of cholesterol, and a family of molecules called ‘apolipoproteins’. He will also study molecules that cause inflammation which are considered key suspects in the development of heart disease. If he can identify molecules in the blood that directly cause heart disease and link them to more conventional risk factors (such as genetic mutations, air pollution, and physical inactivity) this will help to predict those who are most likely to develop heart disease in the future. It could also reveal new molecules that could be targeted with drugs to prevent or treat heart disease.