CARDIONECT
Cardiac Connective Tissue: Beat-by-Beat Relevance for Heart Function in Health and Disease
| Coordinatore | IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
Spiacenti, non ci sono informazioni su questo coordinatore. Contattare Fabio per maggiori infomrazioni, grazie. |
| Nazionalità Coordinatore | United Kingdom [UK] |
| Totale costo | 2˙498˙612 € |
| EC contributo | 2˙498˙612 € |
| Programma | FP7-IDEAS-ERC
Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) |
| Code Call | ERC-2012-ADG_20120314 |
| Funding Scheme | ERC-AG |
| Anno di inizio | 2013 |
| Periodo (anno-mese-giorno) | 2013-07-01 - 2018-06-30 |
Partecipanti
| # | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
Organization address
address: SOUTH KENSINGTON CAMPUS EXHIBITION ROAD contact info |
UK (LONDON) | hostInstitution | 2˙498˙612.50 |
| 2 |
IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
Organization address
address: SOUTH KENSINGTON CAMPUS EXHIBITION ROAD contact info |
UK (LONDON) | hostInstitution | 2˙498˙612.50 |
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Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)
'Cardiac connective tissue is regarded as passive in terms of cardiac electro-mechanics. However, recent evidence confirms that fibroblasts interact directly with cardiac muscle cells in a way that is likely to affect their beat-by-beat activity.
To overcome limitations of traditional approaches to exploring these interactions in native tissue, we will build and explore murine models that express functional reporters (membrane potential, Vm; calcium concentration, [Ca2]i) in fibroblasts, to identify how they are functionally integrated in native heart (myocyte => fibroblast effects). Next, we will express light-gated ion channels in murine fibroblast, to selectively interfere with their Vm (fibroblast => myocyte effects). Fibroblast-specific observation and interference will be conducted in normal and pathologically remodelled tissue, to characterise fibroblast relevance for heart function in health & disease.
Based on these studies, we will generate 2 transgenic rabbits (fibroblast Vm reporting / interfering). Rabbit cardiac structure-function is more amenable to translational work, e.g. to study fibroblast involvement in normal origin & spread of excitation across the heart, in pathological settings such as arrhythmogenicity of post-infarct scars (a leading causes of sudden death), or as a determinant of therapeutic outcomes such as in healing of atrial ablation lines (interfering with a key interventions to treat atrial fibrillation).
The final ‘blue-skies’ study will assess whether modulation of cardiac activity, from ‘tuning’ of biological pacemaker rates to ‘unpinning’ / termination of re-entrant excitation waves, can be achieved by targeting not myocytes, but fibroblasts.
The study integrates basic-science-driven discovery research into mechanisms and dynamics of biophysical myocyte-fibroblast interactions, generation of novel transgenic models useful for a broad range of studies, and elucidation of conceptually new approaches to heart rhythm management.'