Regenerative Medicine: Growing new blood and lymphatic vessels in the heart.

Jump straight to:

• Regenerating blood vessels after damage
• New stem cell type for the growth and repair of blood vessels
• Kick-starting new lymphatic vessel growth in the heart
• Shining a light on how blood and lymphatic vessels grow after injury
• Switching on the genes that tell blood and lymphatic vessels to grow

Regenerating blood vessels after damage

Professor Andrew Baker, University of Edinburgh

When blood vessels are injured, heart damage can worsen. That’s why it is vital that scientists look at returning blood flow to the heart as well as healing heart muscle. 

This team aim to create new blood vessels in the heart after injury.

They will focus on better understanding what happens to the cells that line our blood vessels in the area damaged by a heart attack. These cells have a crucial role to play in the formation of new blood vessels after injury to the heart.

This work is already providing new insight into potentially important drivers of blood vessel development in the heart and could lead to new treatments for people with injured hearts.

New stem cell type for the growth and repair of blood vessels

Professor Christiana Ruhrberg, University College London

This team believe they have uncovered a promising candidate stem cell type, found in the blood of mice, which can help to build the crucial inner lining of new blood vessels. 

In this project, they will find out more about how to find these cells, how common they are and their potential to drive the growth of new blood vessels - both during normal development and in response to damage. 

This work could lay the foundation for harnessing these stem cells to repair damaged blood vessels in humans in the future.

Kick-starting new lymphatic vessel growth in the heart

Professor Paul Riley, University of Oxford

The lymphatic system is a network of tissues, vessels and organs that work together to clear fluids from the body to regulate inflammation when the body is damaged. Doing its job in the right way at the right time, the lymphatic system has the potential to improve heart function after heart attack. 

This team have already shown that promoting lymphatic vessel growth improves the heart’s environment in rodents. Now, the team are looking at the effect of promoting new lymphatic vessel growth in a better model, bringing the team closer to a clinical trial in humans.

Shining a light on how blood and lymphatic vessels grow after injury

Dr Mairi Brittan, University of Edinburgh 

Researchers have previously shown that a special treatment with a molecule called VEGF-C can promote the growth of lymphatic and blood vessels in rodents, improving heart function after a heart attack. However, it is not understood exactly how. 

The team will look at VEGF-C and its repairing action more closely, helping to improve understanding of the molecule’s healing abilities.

Switching on the genes that tell blood and lymphatic vessels to grow

Dr Sarah De Val, University of Oxford

We know blood and lymphatic vessels are important for heart repair, but researchers do not fully understand all the different types of cells that are involved in creating new vessels in adult human hearts. 

Ultimately, this team’s goal is to build a comprehensive picture of how different molecules work together in the heart to activate either blood or lymphatic vessel growth. 

The hope is that this will lead to new treatments that can switch on blood and lymphatic vessel growth and help the heart recover after a heart attack.