Cardiac ischemia reperfusion injury

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Andrea Ulrike Steinbicker
• Subject Area: Anaesthesiology
• Term: from 2008 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 106843579

A heart attack (myocardial infarction) occurs when an artery supplying the heart (coronary artery) suddenly closes depriving heart muscle of blood nutrients and oxygen (ischemia). Prolonged closure of a coronary artery can irreversibly damage heart muscle. The state of the art treatment is the reopening the blocked artery with catheters, which can lead to additional heart damage (reperfusion injury). Recently, investigators in the laboratory of Dr. Zapol (my proposed mentor) have shown that low concentrations of inhaled nitric oxide (NO) gas can reduce reperfusion injury in mice. NO can exert its effects by activating soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), an enzyme which produces the intracellular second messenger cGMP. The goal of the proposed research program is to understand how NO protects the heart and, in particular, the role of sGC and cGMP. To accomplish this goal, mice deficient in a critical sGC subunit α1 will be studied, generated in the laboratory of the project collaborator Dr. Brouckaert (University of Ghent). It is anticipated that these investigations will help to understand the cellular and biochemical mechanisms by which inhaled NO can protect the heart against ischemia and reperfusion injury in animal models. Therefore, it is very likely that our gained results will provide essential knowledge for the development of strategies to innovative therapeutic concepts.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Dr. Warren Myron Zapol