SONATA-BIS 8

Project funded by The National Science Centre in the framework of SONATA-BIS 8

Mechanistic links between psoriasis and cardiovascular complications: investigation on inflammation induced alterations in induced pluripotent stem cells-derived      endothelial cells, cardiomyocytes and cardiac organoids

The overall goal of this proposal is to determine the mechanism by which cutaneous inflammation promotes cardiovascular disease (CVD) in psoriasis (Ps). In particular, endothelial cell perturbations have been recently implicated in Ps patients with a high risk of CVD. This project proposes a truly translational, bench-to-bedside approach building on the strength of the human Ps model and a recent progress in generating human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). By reprogramming skin fibroblast cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells into iPSC and their differentiation, we will establish a source of personalized functional iPS-derived endothelial cells (iPSC-EC) and iPS-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CM). Using iPSC-EC and iPSC-CM derived from Ps patients and healthy subjects will provide a unique opportunity to investigate the pathophysiology of cardiac involvement in psoriasis. In particular, the application of three-dimensional cardiac microtissues (MT) may uncover important cellular and molecular interactions between cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells and clarify whether in vitro MT-CM-EC could represent a robust system and valid tool for studying cardiomyocytes maturation, endothelial dysfunction and disease modelling.

Duration of the project: June 2019 – May 2024

Principal Investigator: dr Monika Biniecka, PhD –Silesian Park of Medical Technology Kardio Med Silesia, Zabrze; Poland

Project value: 2 712 960, 00 PLN