New approaches to heart tissue regeneration after a heart attack

Rui Benedito

Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III - CNIC, Spain

Myocardial infarction is the leading cause of death in the developed countries and the third most important in the developing countries. Most heart attacks are caused either by myocardial ischaemia or coronary artery occlusion. Seventy per cent of people survive heart attack, although how severely heart function is affected varies according to the extent of the infarct zone. 

Both heart tissue and current therapies have very poor regenerative capacity, and this leads ultimately to high morbidity and associated health costs. The low regenerative capacity of heart tissue is caused to a large extent by the very limited activity of vascular cells in the infarct zone. This results in insufficient blood supply and also limits the capacity for healing and regeneration. 

In this project, CNIC researchers aim to characterise and identify genetic pathways and pharmacological compounds that can activate these vascular cells in infarcted zones in order to effectively promote their growth and stimulate the tissue's regenerative properties, which could pave the way to discovering new strategies to prevent heart failure. 

• Mariona Graupera, Fundació Institut de Recerca Contra la Leucèmia Josep Carreras, Spain

• Holger Heyn, Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG), Spain

• Rafael Kramann, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Germany

Understanding and promoting the growth and regenerative functions of blood vessels in heart disease

€999,948.04