KFO 136:  Regeneration and Adaptation in the Cardiovascular System: Molecular Signalling Pathways and Mechanisms

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: from 2005 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 13001445

Contemporary treatments in the cardiovascular system seek to prevent the loss of functioning cells and to slow the progressive functional decline after injury. Therapeutic concepts that may promote regeneration in the cardiovascular system are currently not available.
It has been shown in recent years that circulating stem and progenitor cells (SPCs) may have the potential to improve organ function after ischemic injury, possibly by adopting tissue-specific characteristics. Moreover, organ-specific SPCs have been identified in several organs, including the heart, and these cells have been proposed to contribute to adaptation and regeneration after ischemic injury. While these endogenous SPCs are clearly not sufficient to promote regeneration to a significant extent, the existence of such cells indicates, at least, that the potential for regeneration in the cardiovascular system exists.
Adaptation and regeneration after ischemic injury are not mediated solely by SPCs but involve all cardiovascular cell types. In this regard, communication between these individual cell types is of critical importance. A better understanding of the underlying molecular signalling pathways and mechanisms may lead to novel therapeutic options for patients with cardiovascular disease.
The interdisciplinary Clinical Research Unit unites several groups from the Dept. of Cardiology and Angiology, the Dept. of Nephrology and the Institute for Molecular Biology at Hannover Medical School. The Clinical Research Unit will focus on the role of paracrine/endocrine mediators for organ regeneration and communication with stem and progenitor cells, and will analyse the significance of specific signal transduction pathways during progenitor cell activation and regeneration in the cardiovascular system. By elucidating basic mechanisms, the Clinical Research Unit will lay the foundation for the development and refinement of stem cell-based therapies in the cardiovascular system.

• DFG Programme: Clinical Research Units

Projects

• Bedeutung der anti-inflammatorische Effekte der Lektin-Domäne des Thrombomodulins für das maladaptive myokardiale Remodeling (Applicant Theilmeier, Gregor )
• Bedeutung der gp130/JAK-STAT Signalwege für grundlegende Mechanismen der Regenerations- und Adaptationsprozesse im Myokard (Applicant Hilfiker-Kleiner, Denise )
• Bedeutung des Kapillarendothels für die myokardiale Adaption: Transkriptionelle Regualtionsmechanismen und Identifizierung kardioprotektiver Faktoren (Applicant Heineke, Jörg )
• Bedeutung embryonaler Differenzierungsprogramme in der vaskulären Regeneration: Die Rolle der Notch Signaltransduktion in der postnatalen Arteriogenese (Applicant Limbourg, Florian P. )
• Bedeutung sezernierter Faktoren für myokardiale Adaptations- und Regenerationsprozesse nach Ischämie/Reperfusion (Applicant Wollert, Kai Christoph )
• Bedeutung STAT3-abhängiger post-transkriptioneller Regulationsmechanismen für Adaptions - und Regenerationsprozesse im Myokard (Applicant Hilfiker-Kleiner, Denise )
• Biomechanischer Stress und endotheliale Progenitorzellen bei vaskulären Adaptations- und Regenerationsprozessen (Applicant Schieffer, Bernhard )
• Darstellung von Organfunktion und -perfusion in Mausmodellen mittels Magnet Resonanz Tomographie (Applicant Wollert, Kai Christoph )
• Funktion und Regulation des Sialoms in adaptiven, inflammatorischen und regenerativen Prozessen des Myokards (Applicant Gerardy-Schahn, Rita )
• Mobilisierung und Differenzierung epikardialer Zellen in Entwicklung, Homöostase und Regeneration (Applicant Kispert, Andreas )
• Neue Mechanismen der Gefäßregeneration: Zentrale Rolle der NAD(P)H-Oxidase zwischen toll-like Rezeptoren und Angiogenesefaktoren (Applicant Grote, Karsten )
• Regeneratives Potential endothelialer Progenitorzellen bei Patienten mit kardiovaskulären Risikofaktoren und Niereninsuffizienz: Rolle von oxidativem Stress und asymmetrischem Dimethylarginin (ADMA) (Applicant Drexler, Helmut )
• Rolle der Notch Signaltransduktion bei Regeneration und Adaption im kardiovaskulären System (Applicant Limbourg, Florian P. )
• Rolle von Fibroblast Growth Factor 9 und Dickkopf Homolog 1 für Anpassungsvorgänge nach Myokardinfarkt (Applicant Wollert, Kai Christoph )
• Verwaltungsprojekt (Applicant Wollert, Kai Christoph )
• Zelluläre und molekulare Mechanismen der vaskulären Regeneration durch Erythropoietin (Applicant Bahlmann, Ph.D., Ferdinand Hermann )
• Zentralprojekt (Applicant Drexler, Helmut )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Kai Christoph Wollert