Descripción del proyecto
Revelación del impacto molecular del género en las enfermedades cardiovasculares
La diferencia basada en el sexo en la presentación, la gravedad y el diagnóstico de las enfermedades cardiovasculares está bien documentada, dado que los estrógenos desempeñan un papel protector en las mujeres, que desarrollan estas afecciones con mayor frecuencia tras la menopausia. El equipo del proyecto Sex Dimorphism, financiado por las Acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, está interesado en comprender la etiología subyacente a este hecho. Para ello, los investigadores emprenderán estudios de asociación de genoma completo en función del sexo para las enfermedades cardiovasculares, la diabetes de tipo 2, la hipertensión y la obesidad. A continuación, los combinarán con la expresión génica y los cambios en las proteínas. El objetivo principal es identificar las redes genéticas causales específicas del sexo que son responsables de la aparición de rasgos cardiometabólicos y de la modulación de los factores de riesgo en función del sexo.
Objetivo
Cardiometabolic traits and risk factors including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension are the leading causes of death worldwide. These conditions exhibit some degree of sex differences, including differences in incidence or prevalence, age of onset, severity, disease progression, susceptibility, response to treatment and pharmacological adverse events. Unfortunately, the reasons behind this sex dimorphism are largely unknown, hampering the realization of an effective personalized medicine.
My project will focus on understanding the genetic and molecular components that differentially impact men and women. I will first carry out sex stratified genome-wide association studies for cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity using large population biobanks to evaluate the effects of known-genetic variants within each sex and to identify novel loci that may have been previously undetected. I will then use molecular quantitative trait loci (QTLs) to identify specific gene expression changes and proteins modulated by these variants and that are likely to be involved in sex-specific development of cardiometabolic traits and modulation of risk factors. I will then validate putative causal genes using Mendelian randomization approaches.
This will lead to optimize therapeutics and find new drug target to perform equally well in males and females and will open the door to improve personalized and precision medicine in the near future.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineendocrinologydiabetes
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinecardiologycardiovascular diseases
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencespersonalized medicine
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutritionobesity
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-AG-UN - HORIZON Unit GrantCoordinador
00185 Roma
Italia