Unstable atherosclerosis: from patient to molecule to patient

Background: Atherosclerosis is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD), heart attack (MI) and stroke (IS).

Unstable disease with plaque rupture cause clinical events but diagnostic methods for  identification of patients and lesions at risk are lacking.Aims and Hypothesis: This is an extension of a VR-supported, comprehensive, translational research effort aimed to improve prevention and treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The project has revealed novel molecular pathways that control atherosclerotic plaque phenotype and is now aimed to translate these results into clinical applications for personalized therapy.Work plan: The project is based on large-scale molecular analyzes of plaques and plasma from patients with unstable and stable carotid stenosis and comparisons based on patient and plaque phenotype through large-scale exploration of clinical data, imaging by analytical software and biomaterial analysed by genome and RNA sequencing, plasma proteomics and metabolomics (n>1300 patients).

A comprehensive database will be assembled to develop applications utilizing clinical risk factors, circulating and imaging biomarkers for patient and plaque phenotyping for guidance of individualized therapy.Significance: This project will improve prevention MI and IS by utilizing large scale clinical, biomarker, imaging and molecular information derived from human atherosclerosis for patient and lesion phenotyping and create options for personalized therapy.