Analysis of the molecular mechanisms underlying the aging process in vascular endothelial cells.

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K20741
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0802:Biomedical structure and function and related fields
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Iba Tomohiro 金沢大学, 医学系, 助教 (10908205)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-08-30 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 血管内皮細胞 / バイオインフォマティクス / 老化研究

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Cardiovascular diseases are considered to be the leading cause of death. Aging is the strongest trigger for dysfunction in blood vessels. Therefore, it is important to reveal the mechanisms of age-related changes in cells of blood vessels and establish methods to inhibit these changes. In this research, we analyzed age-related changes using bioinformatic techniques, with a particular focus on identifying molecular targets that can inhibit these changes. The goal is to establish a basic theory of preventive medicine for cardiovascular diseases in aging individuals.
As a result of this research, we discovered that activity levels in several molecular mechanisms differ between young mice and old ones. Furthermore, by using inhibitors targeting specific pathways, we found that the ability of blood vessel regeneration is reduced in young mice. Therefore it is supposed that this research identified a major mechanism associated with age-related dysfunction in blood vessels.

Free Research Field

血管生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、生命情報科学的手法を用いた解析によって、加齢と血管内皮細胞の小集団との関連について研究を行ったものである。これらの小集団は従来の形態学的な分類等では同定する事が難しい細胞集団であったが、本手法により従来以上に血管内皮細胞は機能的な異なりを伴って分類可能であることが示唆された。今後は加齢のみならず様々な病態について同手法を用いることで、新しい治療標的などが探索できると考えられる。また、本研究では加齢に伴う血管系異常の治療標的候補の1つを同定することができた。高齢者を対象とした新しい予防医療法の確立に向けた足掛かりの1つとして、今回得られた知見を今後発展させたいと考えている。