Do vascular smooth muscle cells cause chronic inflammation in atherosclerosis?

Novel mechanisms that induce vascular inflammation

Dr Murray Clarke at the University of Cambridge is working out the processes that trigger inflammation in atherosclerosis, where plaques form within the artery walls causing them to narrow. Heart attacks happen when an artery supplying the heart is blocked, this is often caused by a plaque breaking apart within a blood vessel and causing a blood clot. It is known that chronic inflammation drives plaque growth, leading to plaque rupture; but we don’t understand how it starts, and how it is linked to blood clotting. Dr Clarke has discovered that what happens after cell death is important to control inflammation and blood clotting. Sometimes, dead cells are taken up by other cells called vascular smooth muscle cells, and this protects the blood vessel. But when this process isn’t working properly, dead cells can burst and release their contents causing inflammation. One of the molecules released when a cell bursts is called interleukin-1a (IL-1a). Dr Clarke has discovered that the enzyme thrombin, which normally causes blood to clot, can boost IL-1a activation. In this project, Dr Clarke wants to understand how changes to the vascular smooth muscle cells control the removal of dead cells and IL-1a release. He wants to know how thrombin activated IL-1a drives inflammation and atherosclerosis. By revealing what links chronic inflammation, cell death and blood clotting, this research could reveal new ways to control inflammation in heart disease.