Translating human outgrowth endothelial cell therapy to models of diabetic vascular disease (Dr Michael Drozd)
Type 2 diabetes affects more than 1 million people in the UK, most of who are unable to control their blood sugar because they don’t respond to the hormone insulin. This is called ‘insulin resistance’, and can damage blood vessels, leading to heart and circulatory problems like heart attack and stroke. Stem cells taken from the person’s own blood, and then grown in the lab, offer potential as treatments to heal injured blood vessels. However, research shows that stem cells from people with insulin resistance are much less capable of this healing role. Exciting research by Dr Cubbon and colleagues has already uncovered a way to reactivate these cells’ healing properties. However, their original method permanently changed the stem cells so they were constantly active, and this could have dangerous side effects. With this funding the researchers will test a new, more controlled approach, which allows the stem cell activity to be switched on or off using a common medicine. They will test these stem cells in experiments that mimic the blood vessel injuries that occur in diabetes. The researchers hope that this project will bring them closer to their quest to use stem cells to heal injured blood vessels in people with complications caused by diabetes.
Project details
| Grant amount | £188,535 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Fellowships |
| Application type | Clinical Research Training Fellowship |
| Start Date | 01 September 2018 |
| Duration | 3 years |
| Reference | FS/18/44/33792 |
| Status | In Progress |
