Harnessing iron uptake to treat a form of congenital heart disease

Endothelial cell uptake of decompartmentalised iron-species in Eisenmenger Syndrome: implications for disease pathogenesis and treatment (Miss Quezia Toe)

Eisenmenger syndrome (ES) is a rare complication of a congenital heart defect, which causes increased blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs, known as pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Recent research has suggested that problems with how iron is handled in the blood may be important in the process of developing ES and other types of PAH. There are many ways in which the breakdown products of iron could be harmful to cells, and normally cells remove excess iron. But in people with ES, the molecules that usually do this don't work properly. This suggests that treatments that help the body get rid of excess iron may also help to stop the disease from getting worse in people with ES. In this project a PhD student, supervised by Dr Gregory Quinlan, will study the amount and types of iron in the plasma (the largest single part of blood) of people with ES. They will look at how effective their protective iron-absorbing systems are, will examine the way the cells that line the blood vessels in the lung take up iron, and how this affects cell growth. This will show whether iron uptake directly promotes changes in the blood vessels that cause pulmonary hypertension. They will then also investigate whether it is possible to prevent this damage using iron-binding substances that could be used as treatment for people with ES.