Fatty tissue around the heart can be both hero and villain for our health

Calcification of the coronary arteries is one of the most common causes of death in Denmark, with approximately 12,000 deaths per year, according to Sundhed.dk.

A new research project will explore new ways to gain greater knowledge about calcification.

»We want to understand the mechanisms behind the development of coronary artery calcification, which is the deposition of fat and calcium inside the coronary arteries. My project centers on the fatty tissue that surrounds the heart and coronary arteries, and what significance this has for coronary artery calcification,« says Anne Loft, assistant professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), who has received a Sapere Aude grant from Independent Research Fund Denmark in support of her research.

She calls the fatty tissue around the heart a paradoxical tissue. It exchanges molecules with the coronary arteries, and in healthy people, it is believed that the fatty tissue is beneficial and protects the heart. 

If, on the other hand, a person develops obesity or type 2 diabetes, the adipose tissue gradually changes character and can begin to contribute to the calcification of the coronary arteries.

Broad approach to potentially involved molecules

To investigate what happens when the adipose tissue changes from being beneficial to becoming harmful, Anne Loft will investigate how the composition of cells in the tissue changes. And how the genes in the tissue changes activity.

»We use some advanced methods to map how genes in the adipose tissue are turned on or off as the tissue changes its characteristics. We combine this with new imaging techniques that can show whether the composition of cells in the adipose tissue changes as it goes from being healthy to becoming harmful,« says Anne Loft.

After this, she and the rest of the project group, which will also consist of a PhD student and a postdoc, will try to make some predictions about what harmful molecules are excreted from the bad fat tissue.

What is new about the research is that it takes a systematic approach and uncovers a wide range of molecules and their effect when they are transferred between adipose tissue and the wall of the coronary artery. Previous research has usually focused on molecules that have been pre-identified.

» Rather than looking at individual molecules, we examine the full spectrum of signals coming from the tissue and then analyze which ones have the biggest impact on the disease,« explains Anne Loft.

May lead to better treatment

Anne Loft hopes that the broad approach of the research can yield valuable new knowledge during the four-year project.

»I hope to be able to identify some molecules from the adipose tissue cells that, we have shown, can affect the function of the cells in the vascular wall in a beneficial or negative way. In the long term, this may lead to try to look at the therapeutic potential,« she says and concludes:

»We hope to develop new strategies targeting cell types that are involved in the transport of molecules between the adipose tissue and the coronary arteries. So that society can get new treatment for coronary artery calcification in the long term.«

The research is carried out in collaboration with colleagues from SDU and the University of Copenhagen as well as Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts in the USA.