Molecular mechanisms connecting cardiac and metabolic dysfunction. Diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities

Medical Sciences, Natural Sciences
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Spain
Barcelona
Period: 
1 Jan, 2022 to 31 Dec, 2022
Post date: 
1 Jun, 2020
Deadline: 
1 May, 2022

General information

Duration: 
8 months
Commitment: 
Full-time
Description: 

Dear applicant,
The group is pleased to offer you the possibility to develop an ERASMUS stay in Biomedicall Research in an exceptional and unique clinical environment. This project fits into the European priorities of the Health challenge since it will contribute to improve the diagnosis and prevention of cardio-metabolic complications in type 2 diabetes (DM2). Our group CSIC in association with IIB-SantPau have technology platforms including cell culture and animal facilities, genomic and transcriptomics, bioinformatics, microscopy and Bio-banc that will facilitate the successful development of the project. Our expertise will contribute to improve your skills in experimental design, technical processing of samples, and analysis and interpretation of results. You will manage cellular and molecular biology, biochemical determinations, development of new experimental models, imaging-based measurements and immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy experiments. Our active collaboration with biophysics will increase your knowledge on biophysical techniques useful to characterize the cardiovasculature from a complementary technical perspective. Our collaboration with experts in metabolism will allow you to handle metabolic-specific in vivo measurements such as fatty acid biodistribution, determination of fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) activity, oxygen consumption (VO2) and CO2 production (VCO2). The wide variety of sources for experimental data will be a challenge for you to learn how to manage and integrate all parameters to obtain the maximum performance in each study. Meetings with basic researchers and clinicians will be key to interpret and extrapolate the findings to the clinical context. Our collaboration with biotechs will help you to be familiar with standardization processes required to prove the efficacy of new developed diagnostics and therapeutic tools. We invite you to become part of the team to make reality this translational project.

Compensation: 
No financial compensation
Years of Experience required: 
Yes
Link: 
http://www.recercasantpau.cat/es/grupo/lipidos-y-patologia-cardiovascular/

Keywords

metabolism  lipoproteins  atherosclerosis  cardiovascular  type 2 diabetes  

Additional Information

Given the morbidity and mortality of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), it is urgent to find biomarkers reflecting mechanisms connecting cardiovascular and metabolic alterations. Our aims are to know whether cardiac LRP1-mechanisms play a role cardio-metabolic alterations and the potential of mechanism-related circulating biomarkers to stratify cardio-metabolic risk in DM2 patients. To achieve these aims, we have a diabetic mice with inactivation of cardiac LRP1 and a DM2 patient group without previous hypoglycemic treatment. Imaging-based characterization (echocardiography, CT, NMR) of cardio-metabolic functions will give parameters of cardiac function, cardiac remodeling, epicardial fat volume and hepatic steatosis in patients and mice. Fatty acid (FA) bio-distribution and FA oxidation activity will be analyzed through biochemical, molecular, radioactive FA labeling and enzymatic methods in mice. Identification of circulating biomarkers in plasma will be performed though proteomics and high-throughput sequencing (HTS). By the end of the project, we expect to have a PoC that cardiac LRP1 plays a pivotal role in the progression of DM2, and to have new clinically useful biomarkers. The group searches new molecular mechanisms underlying pathological alterations in the cardiovascular system to find innovative treatments and new biomarkers with prognostic and diagnostic value in atherosclerosis and myocardiopathies. Our translationality is based on a fruitful collaboration with clinicians which are updated about the main non-covered needs of patients. The group has actually 80 international publications and 3 patents, and we have been recently granted with two projects characterized by their high potential to be incorporated to the productive sector, one of them coordinated by a biotech. We have active national and international collaborations with experts in exclusive technologies, and with companies able to translate findings into new clinical tools
Requirements
Languages: 
English: Independent User B2
Level of Studies: 
Bachelor