Understanding how hearts grow new blood vessels, to help heal after heart attack

The BHF Ian Fleming Research Fellowship. Targeting developmental mechanisms to augment neovascularisation of the ischaemic heart (RENEWAL)

Oxford researchers are advancing their quest to boost natural processes to help hearts repair themselves after a heart attack. In a heart attack, large portions of the heart are deprived of blood flow. This injures these areas of the heart muscle, which can lead to heart failure. No treatments exist to boost repair of the injured heart muscle to reduce the risk of heart failure. This is a major goal for researchers around the world, and Nicola Smart and her colleagues are at the forefront of this effort. Growing new blood vessels following a heart attack is crucial for repair of the damaged muscle. Dr Smart’s recent work has shown that the heart attempts to repair its blood supply, by reverting to processes similar to those used in the embryo to build the heart before birth. This uses two main sources of cells to build new vessels: those that form the inner lining of the heart (the endocardium) and a large vein (the coronary sinus). With this funding, Dr Smart will be able to continue this work to understand these processes in greater detail. Deciphering the steps used to regenerate blood vessels will bring us closer to discovering drugs that can help the heart repair itself after a heart attack.