Major grants to support transatlantic research on heart disease

Researchers at Imperial are part of two international networks to receive major grants from the Fondation Leducq for research into heart disease.

The collaborations, involving researchers in Europe, Australia and North America, will study the processes that lead to the death of heart muscle cells, and the role of stem cells in repairing heart muscle.

Heart failure, a common consequence of heart attacks and inherited heart conditions, involves the gradual loss of contracting cells in the heart, resulting in ineffective pumping of blood.

Professor Ralph Knöll, from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial, will work with partners to investigate how mechanical stress might be linked to the death of heart muscle cells.

Professor Nadia Rosenthal, also from the NHLI, is part of a second consortium that will research stem cells in the heart and their potential to replace muscle cells.

The projects, each worth $6 million over five years, are funded by the Fondation Leducq Transatlantic Networks of Excellence in Cardiovascular Research programme.

Triggers for cell death

Professor Ralph Knöll

Heart muscle cells have to continuously contract and relax throughout life, putting them under mechanical strain. Recent research has suggested that this stress can induce the cells to die in a process called “mechanoptosis”.

Mutations in titin, a protein involved in muscle contraction, have recently emerged as an important cause of heart failure. The researchers will investigate how these mutations are linked to cell death and how to translate this knowledge into new therapies.

“Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in heart failure will help us find new ways to combat the disease,” Professor Knöll said.

Stem cells in the heart

Professor Nadia Rosenthal

Although stem cells are present in the heart throughout life, exactly where they reside and how to best coax them into action in patients with acute or chronic heart disease remains poorly understood.

Professor Rosenthal said: “The last decade has seen a tremendous interest in the possibility that cardiac stem cells could be used to help patients. However, we need to better understand their characteristic roles and interactions with other cells of the heart if we are to develop sophisticated regenerative therapies for the future.

“This grant provides an unprecedented opportunity to bring together experts from across the world to comprehensively evaluate these cells.”

The consortium is headed by Professors Toren Finkel (US National Institutes of Health) and David Sassoon (University of  Pierre et Marie Curie-Sorbonne/INSERM) and includes Professor Rosenthal, as well as researchers from US, Australia France, and Germany.