What dictates where plaques form in the blood vessels?

Role of the adaptor protein Shc in flow-mediated vascular remodelling and atherosclerosis

Dr Ellie Tzima and colleagues at the University of Oxford are working out how plaques form in atherosclerosis - an inflammatory disease where fatty plaques gradually build up on the inner surface of blood vessels. Over time, these plaques can reduce or even block blood flow to important organs such as the heart or brain, and lead to a heart attack or stroke. Plaques develop unevenly specific areas of blood vessels that experience disturbed blood flow, similar to the whirls that form at river bends. Understanding why and how plaques form could reveal new ways to treat them. In this project, Dr Tzima wants to understand why and how plaques form in specific areas of blood vessels. She will combine bioengineering, cell biology and physiology knowledge and techniques to study the molecular pathways and processes that underpin plaque generation, and which she believes could also influence where a plaque will form. Understanding how plaques form may identify new targets for new drugs that block these pathways and treat atherosclerosis by blocking or slowing down plaque development.