Identification of nitrated proteins with diagnostic potential vulnerability of atherosclerotic plaques

• Grant number: 12/02808-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2012
• End date: May 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre da Costa Pereira
• Grantee: Patrícia Schneider Yogi
• Host Institution: Instituto do Coração Professor Euryclides de Jesus Zerbini (INCOR). Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da USP (HCFMUSP). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death worldwide and the most important aggravating factor is atherosclerosis, a disease that arises from the accumulation of lipids in the intima of the arteries, causing an inflammatory response and formation of atherosclerotic plaques. If there is overflow of internal contents of the plaque to the coronary artery lumen, there will be formation of a thrombus, which block blood flow and thus result in a myocardial infarction or symptoms such as angina pectoris. The plaques may be stable or vulnerable to rupture, but the diagnosis of this type is quite difficult in routine clinical care, which complicates the prognosis of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, taking advantage of the various techniques for analyzing proteome that exist today, this study aims to identify nitrated proteins found in atherosclerotic plaques and their association with different levels of plaque vulnerability, and this way, find possible markers that signal the stability/vulnerability of the plaque, which would optimize the prognosis and clinical monitoring of patients with atherosclerotic disease.