Examining the effect of increasing endothelial cell insulin like growth factor-1 receptor expression in the endothelium on blood pressure homeostasis and endothelial cell function in health and diet induced type 2 diabetes mellitus (Dr Thomas Slater)
According to data from 2016, type 2 diabetes affects more than three million people in the UK. The condition affects the health of our veins and arteries. This can lead to a range of problems, including leg ulcers, and it vastly increases a person’s risk of a heart attack. Professor Kearney’s research team have discovered a way in which type 2 diabetes damages blood vessels. Healthy blood vessels respond to the body’s demands by or relaxing in order to either increase or decrease our blood pressure. BHF Professor Mark Kearney has shown that mice with type 2 diabetes have blood vessels that are less able to relax in response to a hormone found in the blood called IGF-1. They found that type 2 diabetes causes a progressive decline in a protein in the cells lining the artery walls that recognises and binds to IGF-1; a step that leads to the relaxation of the artery. Now they will study this process further in mice with type 2 diabetes. They will increase the amount of this protein in the lining of blood vessels and examine if it restores their responsiveness and improves other measures of blood vessel health, including blood pressure. Understanding the molecular effects of type 2 diabetes will help the design of new treatments to prevent its dangerous consequences.
Project details
| Grant amount | £213,347 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Fellowships |
| Application type | Clinical Research Training Fellowship |
| Start Date | 01 December 2017 |
| Duration | 3 years |
| Reference | FS/17/78/33180 |
| Status | In Progress |
