GRADUATE STUDENT / INVESTIGADOR EN FORMACIÓN

Requirements: Bachelor in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry or Pharmacy. Average marks above 2. Previous experience in cell biology will be positively considered.

Neovascularization contributes to tissue repair and remodeling during acute and chronic ischemic vascular diseases, and represents an alternative therapeutic target for patients with lower limb ischemia and coronary artery disease. Different studies highlight the role of MMPs - zinc-dependent endopeptidases with proteolytic activity - in physiological and pathological angiogenesis by promoting matrix degradation and cell migration, stimulating the release of pro-angiogenic factors from ECM or favoring proteolytic inactivation of angiogenesis inhibitors. Recent clinical and preclinical studies from our group suggest a role of MMP-10 in cardiovascular disease. In humans high levels of MMP-10 are associated with well-known cardiovascular risk factors, whereas the genetic inactivation of MMP-10 in ApoE knockout mice (ApoE-/-: MMP-10-/-) promotes reduced atherosclerotic plaque development compared to ApoE-/- mice. In addition, the expression of MMP-10 during micro-vessel growth in vitro, suggested a possible role of MMP-10 in angiogenesis. Recent studies however, propose that MMP-10 might play a role in the stabilization and maintenance of the newly formed vessels rather than in vessel formation. Taken together, these evidences argue in favor of a possible role of MMP-10 in angiogenic disorders such as, ischemic diseases or cancer. Therefore, we propose to characterize the role of MMP-10 in vessel formation by using different in vitro and in vivo models of ischemia.