February 2015

DZHK scientists from the partner sites Munich and Hamburg/Kiel/Lübeck report in the journal Circulation that the gene ADAMTS-7 plays a pivotal role in neoformation of the inner cell layer of blood vessels (the intima). Genome-wide association studies had previously demonstrated a link between this gene and coronary artery disease. The team of researchers working with Thorsten Kessler and Zouhair Aherrahrou, Kjestine Schmidt, Cor de wit, Jeanette Erdmann and Heribert Schunkert have now shown in a study in mice that when this gene is switched off endothelial cells regenerate more rapidly following vascular injury and there is an absence of intimal over-proliferation. Therefore, inhibition of ADAMTS-7 may be a promising method for preventing renewed narrowing of the vessel (re-stenosis) following stent placement.  

Link to the Paper