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Dr Atticus Hainsworth, St George's London

Carotid artery endothelial growth: a novel in vitro assay

Abstract of Research

Morbidity due to cardiovascular disease, such as arterial disease, thrombosis and stroke, is high and set to rise due to modern lifestyles. According to a recent World Health Organization report, stroke is the second most common cause of death worldwide. Developing new treatments for these diseases involves using animals, including increasing numbers of pigs, which have a similar cardiovascular system to humans. This project aims to replace some experiments which currently use live pigs to test cardiovascular drugs by developing and characterising a novel ex vivo model to study the growth of endothelial cells which form the lining of arteries. 

The ex vivo model of arterial endothelial growth, using surplus tissue from animals used in other research projects, will be developed during a one year pilot study. Transverse sections (slices) of pig carotid arteries will be used in the culture system to test known modifiers of endothelial growth to determine whether the cells respond as they would in vivo. 

This model could replace the use of some pre-clinical live animals for the screening of potential cardiovascular drugs.