Modulation of autophagic cell death to develop a new therapy for cardiovascular diseases

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25670602
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Cardiovascular surgery
• Research Institution: National Cardiovascular Center Research Institute
• Principal Investigator: YAMAHARA KENICHI 独立行政法人国立循環器病研究センター, 研究所, 室長 (50450888)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SAKATA Ryuzo 京都大学, 医学研究科, 教授 (20325781) ; MARUI Akira 京都大学, 医学研究科, 准教授 (60402856)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 循環器・高血圧 / オートファジー / 血管平滑筋

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Autophagy has largely implicated in the pathophysiology of various diseases, including the cardiovascular field. In this study, using several models of cardiovascular disease, we aimed to establish a new method to protect cardiovascular system by the modification of autophagy. We established a reliable and reproducible rat model of aortic aneurysm, and immunohistochemical and electron microscopic analysis revealed that autophagy was activated in the aneurysm. Administration of rapamycin, an with autophagy enhancer, induced the inhibition of aneurysm in this rat model. We also generated smooth muscle-specific Atg5-deficient mice by crossing SM22-Cre mice with floxed Atg5 mouse. Now we are investigating its effect on vascular remodeling using cuff-induced vascular injury model.

Free Research Field

再生医療、循環器学