Research team
From hit to lead: inducing basal autophagy for treating cardiovascular diseases.
Abstract
Autophagy is a normal physiological process that maintains intracellular homeostasis by degrading unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components in lysosomes. This way, autophagy supports cell survival in unfavourable conditions and represents a reparative and life-sustaining process. Impaired autophagy is increasingly recognized as a hallmark of aging and of multiple human pathological conditions, including cardiovascular disease. Moreover, impaired autophagy has been linked with increased arterial stiffness, an independent risk marker of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, inducing autophagy could be a game-changer in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. However the potential of autophagy inducing drugs has not been realized yet due to the absence of potent and selective tool compounds. The current proposal will start from a number of hits identified in a high-throughput screening and will further validate these lead candidates through a series of in vitro and in vivo studies focussing on vascular biology. Using geneticallyengineered mice with cell-type specific autophagy defect, the selectivity of the final lead compound will be demonstrated. Moreover, we aim to establish preclincal proof of concept of autophagy induction as therapeutic strategy for cardiovascular ageing and the development of atherosclerosis.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Guns Pieter-Jan
- Co-promoter: Martinet Wim
- Fellow: Neutel Cédric
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project
From hit to lead: inducing basal autophagy for treating cardiovascular disease.
Abstract
Autophagy is a normal physiological process that maintains intracellular homeostasis by degrading unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components in lysosomes. This way, autophagy supports cell survival in unfavourable conditions and represents a reparative and life-sustaining process. Impaired autophagy is increasingly recognized as a hallmark of aging and of multiple human pathological conditions, including cardiovascular disease. Inducing autophagy could be a game-changer in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, but the potential of autophagy inducing drugs has not been realized yet due to the absence of potent and selective tool compounds. The current proposal will start from a number of hits identified in a high-throughput screening and will further validate these lead candidates through a series of in vitro and in vivo studies focussing on vascular biology.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Guns Pieter-Jan
- Fellow: Neutel Cédric
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project