New therapeutic strategy to combat heart disease

Guadalupe Sabio

Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO), Madrid, Spain

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death worldwide. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated 17.9 million people died as a result of cardiovascular disease in 2019, accounting for 32 % of all deaths globally. Of these, 85 % were due to heart attacks and strokes.

The heart, the key organ in this group of disorders, is the most metabolically demanding organ and requires enormous flexibility to adapt to daily changes. Any alteration in its metabolism increases the risk of heart failure. In this regard, this project will study the mechanisms involved in cardiac metabolism, which will pave the way to identifying new therapeutic strategies.

In previous studies, the team has identified a key protein in the oxygen-sensing mechanism of heart muscle cell mitochondria, and preliminary data suggest that modulation of this sensing mechanism could provide protection against cardiac damage. In this project, the team will assess the therapeutic capacity of nanoparticles designed to eliminate precisely this protein in the context of cardiac hypoxia and myocardial infarction, with the aim of determining whether this is a viable strategy for combating heart disease.

• Hesham Sadek, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC), Madrid, Spain

• Mónica Giménez Marqués, Institut de Ciència Molecular (ICMol) de la Universitat de València, Spain

• Maria José Alonso, Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CiMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain

In MITOHEART, we will determine whether modulation of cardiac mitochondria is a feasible therapeutic strategy to fight cardiac diseases

€999,920.00