Six projects across the UK were awarded a total of £422,263 in our last round of grants.
University of Surrey
£69,139 | 36 months
Triglycerides are fats that are either made by the liver or absorbed from food in the intestine. Excessively high levels of triglycerides after eating is known to be linked to a higher risk of heart disease. However, it is not known whether such high levels result from a high absorption of triglycerides from food in the intestine of whether the body is synthesising higher levels of triglycerides itself.
Triglycerides are made using a sugary alcohol called glycerol. Introducing a special ‘tagged’ glycerol into the body can help us understand more about how triglycerides are made as the tag shows up in the triglyceride in the liver or the intestine.
This project will help us better understand the cause of high triglyceride levels by using glycerol labelled with two different tags. One tagged glycerol will be given orally and will show how much triglyceride is absorbed from food in the intestine. The other tagged glycerol will be injected into the blood stream and will show how much triglyceride is made by the body itself.
The researchers will also experiment on cells to see the conditions under which intestinal cells can make triglycerides from injected glycerol. This will help them understand more about the metabolism of triglycerides in the intestine.
Queen Mary University
£84,594 | 24 months
The measurement of the responsiveness of platelets in the blood is important in diagnosing patients at risk of thrombosis and in testing the effectiveness of anti-thrombosis medication. The best way to test platelet reactivity at the moment is by a method called ‘light transmission aggregometry’ but it is laborious and slow and not practical for use in routine screening. The researchers have developed a method to make this process much faster and easier by using equipment that allows testing of 96 blood samples at the same time. This is a two-year grant to establish whether the new technique works effectively and whether it should be used for routine testing.
University of Leeds
£68,670 | 36 months
LOX-1 is a protein molecule that helps cause atherosclerosis (the furring up of the arteries) by acting as a receptor for ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol and fatty acids, causing them to be deposited in the walls of the arteries and form plaque. Deleting the gene for LOX-1 reduces the formation of plaque. We do not yet understand the molecular makeup of the substance within cholesterol and fatty acids that cause atherosclerosis. This project aims to identify this substance and to find other substances that could potentially bind to the LOX-1 receptor with a view to ultimately designing medication that might prevent atherosclerosis.
University of Warwick
£45,670 | 12 months
Two hormones called orexins are known to increase appetite. They have also been shown to increase heart rate and blood pressure and it is clear that there is potential for orexins to play a part in the prevention and treatment of heart disease. This project will look in more detail at the effects of orexins on both healthy and diseased hearts, including muscle contraction, heart rate, vascular function, metabolism, morphology and electrical activity of the heart. It will look at the characteristics of orexin receptors in the heart. It is hoped that the findings will enable researchers to develop appropriate medication.
University of Leeds
£69,220 | 36 months
Heart attacks are caused by blood clots that form in the artery that supplies blood to the heart. A major part of a clot is a protein called fibrin which is deposited as long fibres when the clot forms. An enzyme called factor XIIIA then stabilizes clots by welding the fibrin chains together in a tough mesh and it is believed that by stopping factor XIIIA from working, we can make clots easier to remove from the body. This project aims to design molecules that will inhibit factor XIIIA, which will then be tested for effectiveness.
Bristol Heart Institute
£84,970 | 36 months
Thickening of the blood vessel wall is the main cause of heart disease in patients who have had a vein graft or a stent fitted. This happens because cells in the blood vessel wall move into the inner layer of the blood vessel. We need to understand why these cells move so as to improve vein graft surgeries and the fitting of stents. The grantee has already discovered that a pathway called the Wnt beta-catenin pathway regulates the movement of the cells. This project aims to demonstrate the importance of this pathway in the thickening of the blood vessel wall and establish how exactly it does so.
For more information about grants contact our Grants Administrator on 0113 234 7474 or email grants@heartresearch.org.uk
