Dr. Henrique Girão, PROTEOSTASIS MC Member from Portugal and co-leader of WG3, featured in Portuguese press due to his participation in a research project that has identified new and promising strategies to promote cardiac angiogenesis. The research work has  showed that exosomes released by cardiomyocytes subjected to ischemia in vitro can induce the formation of new vessels when injected into the heart. Moreover, it has provided evidence that miRNA-222 and miRNA-143 that are enriched in ischemic exosomes mediate the angiogenic potential of these vesicles. This study can pave the way towards the development of novel clinical approaches aiming to stimulate the growth of new vessels in the heart.

 Further information and  press release available (only in Portuguese) at the following link:https://www.publico.pt/2017/07/24/ciencia/noticia/descoberto-novo-metodo-de-formacao-de-vasos-sanguineos-no-coracao-1780146

Scientific article available at the following link: https://academic.oup.com/cardiovascres/article-abstract/113/11/1338/3870380/Exosomes-secreted-by-cardiomyocytes-subjected-to?redirectedFrom=fulltext