The 2024 Autumn Term Cardiac Function Seminar series talks will be back Thursday 10th October, when we will be welcoming Professor Dr. Sabine Steffens, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich), Germany.
Talk Title: The pericardial adipose tissue immune interface in ischemic and non-ischemic cardiac disease
Talk Time: 12:30 – 13:30 UK time
Location: Hybrid – online Via Teams and Meeting room 427/428 4th Floor ICTEM, Hammersmith Campus, Du Cane Road W12 0NN
Please note the seminar organizers and the Head of Section would like to request that attendees will in the majority of cases be physically present in the seminar room and a participation via Teams shall be the exception.
Talk summary:
Past research investigating the underlying inflammatory mechanisms and cellular key players of cardiovascular disease mainly focused on cells within the arteries and the myocardium. However, the relevance of the perivascular adipose tissue, in particular the adipose tissue surrounding coronary arteries and pericardium in regulating vascular and cardiac inflammation are less well understood. Epi- and pericardial adipose tissue surrounding coronary arteries and the heart contain lymphoid clusters, which pre-exist in steady state but also respond to local inflammation. The unique location of immune cell clusters at the interface of the pericardial space and the pleural cavity suggests that these clusters play an important role in cardiac immunosurveillance. On the other hand, emerging evidence suggests that pericardial adipose tissue immune cells respond and shape ischemic and non-ischemic cardiac disease.
Short bio:
Sabine Steffens studied Biology in Giessen (Germany) and received her PhD title in Duesseldorf (Germany). After a short postdoctoral fellowship in Philadelphia, she worked for 10 years at the Medical Faculty of Geneva, Switzerland, as a postdoc and junior group leader. Since 2013, she is Associate Professor for Clinical Pathobiochemistry at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany. Her research is focusing on the role of the endocannabinoid system and related endogenous lipid signaling pathways and more generally on inflammatory processes underlying atherosclerosis and cardiac repair.
Some of her key papers have highlighted the role of neutrophils and the circadian rhythm in post-myocardial infarction healing, as well as the influence of the pericardial adipose tissue in this process (Horckmans et al European Heart Journal 2017, Schloss et al EMBO Molecular Medicine2016, Horckmans et al Circulation 2018). More recent work focused on the role of the lipid receptor GPR55 in regulating B cell function in the context of atherosclerosis (Guillamat Prats et al Nature Cardiovascular Research 2022).
If you are joining online and you have not yet signed up to join the Cardiac Function Seminar Team group in order to participate in the seminar online please register via the linked tab or here which will provide access to the Team.
Please do this ahead of time of the talk.
The Cardiac Function Seminar Team
(Prof. Thomas Brand, Natasha Richmond)