Support from Heart & Stroke allows Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researchers to pursue life-saving research.
As February, Heart Month, comes to a close, learn about some of the amazing work FoMD researchers are undertaking thanks to funding by the Heart & Stroke's Grant-in-Aid program.
Maria Febbraio, School of Dentistry
The Role Of Endothelial Cell CD36 in Metabolism & Cardiovascular Disease
Support from Heart & Stroke will help Maria Febbraio study fatty acid uptake, metabolism and how fats get into cells. This research could lead the way to develop new therapies for obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
Our bodies use two different kinds of energy for fuel, glucose and fatty acids. Glucose gets into cells by way of transporters, although Febbraio says there is some controversy as to how fatty acids enter cells because they can flip-flop across membranes. Her lab has been investigating a protein called CD36. One of the protein's functions seems to be facilitating the uptake of fatty acids into cells.
Febbraio's work suggests that in addition to the specific cell membrane of a cardiomyocyte or adipocyte, there's a second regulated door for fatty acids at the endothelial cell membrane. With this grant, she will be investigating whether CD36 plays a role in the endothelium regulating fatty acid uptake by tissues.
CD36 may also be an important gene in polymorphisms that cause sudden infant death syndrome.
"Research dollars have such a big impact on people's health," said Febbraio. "I don't think my research would be possible without the imperative support from Heart & Stroke."
Richard Lehner, Department of Pediatrics
Role of arylacetamide deacetylase (AADAC) in intestinal and hepatic lipoprotein production and atherosclerosis development
Atherosclerosis is a disease in which the arteries are clogged by plaques made up by lipids, including cholesterol, fat and other substances from blood. Richard Lehner's research has shown that diminished amounts of a protein called AADAC (normally made by the intestine and liver) increases blood cholesterol and fat concentration. The goal of Lehner's lab is to investigate whether AADAC deficiency leads to increased atherosclerosis.
"Atherosclerosis is a condition that is directly relevant to heart disease and stroke. The proposed research will focus on atherosclerosis study and the results will have implications in the prevention of heart disease and stroke," said Lehner.
Funding from the Heart & Stroke enables Lehner's lab to explore how a lack of AADAC affects the development of atherosclerosis in laboratory animal models that will be fed a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet. They will be also able to assess the contribution of AADAC present either in the liver or in the intestine to lipid metabolism, which leads to obesity, fatty liver disease and inflammation.
Gary Lopaschuk, Department of Pediatrics
Branched Chain Amino Acid Contribution to Cardiac Insulin Resistance in Heart Failure
Gary Lopaschuk studies cardiac energy metabolism in the normal heart and in various forms of heart disease. He also researches how perturbations in energy metabolism contribute to various forms of heart disease.
The funding from Heart & Stroke will allow him to look at heart failure and the changes in energy metabolism that occur in the failing heart. Heart failure is when the heart is not contracting adequately to meet the body's demand for blood and oxygen. It is a very serious condition and a major burden on families and the health-care system.
"Heart failure is a devastating disease. It has a poor prognosis and results in a poor quality of life," said Lopaschuk.
One of the things that changes in heart failure is how the heart produces energy. The heart has the highest energy demand of any in organ in the body. Lopaschuk is interested in what the consequences of heart failure on energy metabolism are.
His lab has found that the failing heart isn't utilizing glucose for energy and the heart itself becomes insulin resistant. Lopaschuk is investigating what is causing this insulin resistance. He believes branched-chain amino acids are contributing and wants to determine how at a molecular level. This could lead to new therapies to treat heart failure.
"Without having the funding, we can't do the research to determine that our hypothesis is correct. Without research, nothing changes," said Lopaschuk.
Allan Murray, Department of Medicine
Vascular repair in transplant vasculopathy
Allan Murray's lab researches vascular biology, how blood vessels repair when injured and how they function and interface with the immune system.
The project that received funding from Heart & Stroke looks at how blood vessels in the heart are damaged during a heart transplant. The focus is to try to figure out what mechanism the blood vessels use to try and repair themselves. The long-term goal is to identify targets that could be addressed by a drug to accelerate repair.
His lab hopes to find a way to try to coax blood vessels to repair more quickly and efficiently while maintaining a more normal structure.
"This funding will allow one of my graduate students to complete critical experiments while earning his PhD," said Murray. "Research done in animal models is the most relevant to humans, but is also the most expensive, so funding is critically important."
Gavin Oudit, Department of Medicine
Apelin Analogs as Novel Therapeutic Agents for Heart Failure
The apelin pathway has a key protective role in human heart failure. In collaboration with John Vederas from the Department of Chemistry, Gavin Oudit's lab has designed and synthesized novel stable and potent apelin analogues.
Several major pharmaceutical companies are currently pursuing enhancing apelin action as therapies for heart failure, vascular and kidney disease.
Oudit is now testing their novel apelin analogues in preclinical models of heart failure.
"Heart & Stroke will support our preclinical work and biomarker studies in patients with heart failure," said Oudit. "Trainee support is also a critical component and allows us to maintain our research program in our current challenging fiscal environment."
Michael Zaugg, Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine
Insulin resistance due to lipotoxicity of fat emulsions in healthy and diabetic hearts: underlying mechanisms and prevention
Cardiac complications such as heart attacks and arrhythmias worsen long-term prognosis and prolong hospital stays. Michael Zaugg's translational research aims at testing novel strategies to protect the vulnerable patient's heart suffering from diseases such as diabetes, post-infarct heart remodeling, and heart failure during the perioperative period (the time of their admission for surgery to discharge) in order to avoid complications.
Zaugg's current research will increase the understanding of how vulnerable hearts can be protected against stress. This new knowledge will ultimately change the guidelines in perioperative patient care. As diabetic hearts are particularly vulnerable and susceptible to heart attacks and the rates of type 2 diabetes continue to rise, Zaugg's research investigates how further insulin resistance (a major contributor to cardiac dysfunction) can be prevented in diabetic patients in the stressful perioperative setting as well as in critically ill diabetic patients.
"The support by Heart & Stroke for my research projects also boosted collaborations with other research groups and fostered joint projects with cardiac surgeons. In these projects, undergraduate students, graduate students as well as residents can participate and engage in research," said Zaugg. "In other words, by supporting my research, Heart & Stroke invests in young talent and future scientists."
In addition to support from Heart & Stroke nationally, the FoMD receives critical funding from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta through an endowed research chair, professorships and a leadership fund to support research by young investigators. This support from Heart & Stroke makes life-saving research possible.