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Macrophage proliferation and ontogeny in murine models of atherosclerosis

Objective

Atherosclerosis is a slowly progressing inflammatory disease that underlies some of the most common causes of death in western society. The central role of macrophages throughout its pathogenesis makes this cell an eminent target for therapeutic intervention. Recent studies have subverted the classical view that atherosclerotic plaque macrophages mainly originate from recruited circulating monocytes, launching the new notion that macrophages could also be derived from clonal expansion of resident macrophages or even trans-differentiated vascular smooth muscle cells. The relative importance of these mechanisms to the pathogenesis remains however unclear, due to a lack of adequate animal models that allow assessing this question.
In this project, I introduce a recently developed fate mapping model, the LysMCre-Ubow+/+ mouse, into the atherosclerosis field to conclusively identify regions within the plaque that were formed through local proliferation rather than monocyte recruitment. Apart from quantifying its relative contribution to plaque growth during disease progression and regression, I will furthermore characterize the localization, transcriptional activity and the lipidic makeup of these proliferated cells versus invaded monocytes.
In a second part of this project, I will deploy adoptive bone marrow transfers from WT to Ubow mice and vice versa as a model to quantify intraplaque myeloid versus stromal-cell derived macrophages. I will compare proliferative capacity, phenotype, transcriptomics and lipidomics of these two subsets and link this information to their functionality.
With this strategy I will be the first to reveal the impact of the three macrophage accumulation mechanisms throughout the disease course, to couple this to their function and to exploit this knowledge for targeted experimental therapeutic interventions.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITEIT MAASTRICHT
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 177 598,80
Address
MINDERBROEDERSBERG 4
6200 MD Maastricht
Netherlands

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Region
Zuid-Nederland Limburg (NL) Zuid-Limburg
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 177 598,80
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