Endothelial-pericyte interactions in cardiometabolic disease progression

Inflammatory and regenerative processes following tissue damage are intimately linked to aberrant angiogenesis and increased vascular permeability in the affected tissues. This is observed in cardiometabolic events such as ischemic stroke and myocardial infarcts, but also in chronic inflammatory conditions including atherosclerosis, steatohepatitis, and chronic kidney disease. Increased vascular permeability facilitates extravasation of immune cells to the affected areas and supply of nutrients. Whereas morphological changes of the endothelial cells are well-described, the molecular basis for the increased permeability, the role of perivascular cells in the process and changes to perivascular-endothelial cell interactions remain poorly understod.
In the proposed project, we combine single-cell and imaging-based, spatial transcriptomics to study molecular changes in the two broader cell populations in human disease with a focus on cellular interactions and regulation of nutrients supply. Findings will be followed up by loss-of-function studies in animal disease models and precision-cut human tissue slices ex-vivo.
The project will be a collaboration between clinicians, pathologists, experts in vascular integrity, as well as computational biologists in the hosting institution. The candidate is expected to engage in both wet-lab and computational aspects of the project. National and international collaborations to support the project have been established.