Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University pioneer new methods to understand heart and circulatory disease

We have jointly awarded a new grant, to scientists at Manchester Metropolitan University, who will be developing a new way of studying the formation of dangerous blood clots.

Heart and circulatory disease, also known as cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally and responsible for more than 1 in 4 deaths in the UK, often wreaking devastation on the lives of patients and their families. This project, led by Dr Sarah Jones, Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan’s School of Healthcare Science, will focus specifically on developing a new laboratory-based system to study the causes of heart attacks and strokes, two of the most common cardiovascular conditions.

Dr Sarah Jones is leading the research at Manchester Metropolitan University

How do heart attacks and strokes happen?

Heart attacks and strokes commonly arise when important blood vessels in the body become clogged with a fatty substance known as atherosclerotic plaque. This can cause the arteries to harden and narrow. Sometimes, these plaques get damaged, and this can trigger the formation of a blood clot, blocking up the artery and starving organs of oxygen and nutrients. This process is called “atherothrombosis”.

What is different about this project?

In previous projects looking at blood clots in arteries, researchers have focused on studying the blood vessels of animals such as mice and rats. There are significant differences, however, between how the condition presents in different species, meaning using animals is not the best way to study atherothrombosis. Dr Jones and her team at Manchester Metropolitan will attempt to develop a new way of mimicking the environment and conditions under which these blood clots occur, without using animals, which more accurately represents this disease in humans.

Cells that line the walls of blood vessels, similar to those that will be used in this research.

Dr Jones explains: “The trigger for blood clot formation is damage to the blood vessel wall, caused when fatty plaques break open, or the surface of the blood vessel wall detaches, exposing blood to the ‘sticky’ proteins, which lie beneath. In this study, we will develop materials to recreate these sticky surfaces, and we will be covered these with endothelial cells - the cells that line the blood vessels. We will then damage the endothelial cells to trigger blood clot formation, simulating atherothrombosis. This will enable us to improve our understanding of how blood clots that cause heart attacks and strokes develop, as well as testing out new drugs to treat patients.”

“We will use human blood, human endothelial cells and will take into account forces such as blood flow and heart rate that are found in human coronary arteries, which are the blood vessels that provide oxygenated blood to the heart. This should be relevant therefore, and will allow us to more accurately investigate how blood clots form in a patient having a heart attack.”

“This approach is not only important in terms of giving us the best method with which to understand the clots and what causes them, but also in relation to efforts that are going on across the sector to reduce and refine the use of animals in cardiovascular research.”

Supporting a fresh way of thinking about research

Our Senior Research Advisor Noel Faherty says: “We are pleased to be supporting this project which will create a more accurate and meaningful way of investigating the cause of dangerous blood clots in the arteries. We hope this work will lead to the development of medicines to tackle blood clots, which are more effective and more targeted to patients’ needs.

“At the BHF we ensure we only fund animal research when absolutely necessary and we actively encourage our funded researchers to plan their studies so fewer animals are needed and to look for other possible research methods. This study is a great example of researchers looking beyond research with animals to improve their methodology and to generate stronger scientific results.”

We've provided a £90,000 grant to this three year project, which is also being supported by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs). To find out more about our other research, and how you can help to support this, sign up for our research newsletter.