Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Disease

The group’s research focuses on identifying and characterising molecular and cellular biomarkers of atherosclerosis and ischaemic heart disease to improve prevention, diagnosis, risk stratification, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Activities address cardiovascular diseases across both subclinical and clinical stages and include studies on vascular and myocardial remodelling, inflammation, lipoproteins, cardiovascular risk factors, and disease prevention. Biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets are investigated using complementary approaches that integrate clinical samples from patients and healthy subjects, experimental animal models, and mechanistic studies in cell culture systems.

Main lines of research

• Circulating and tissue proteomics (plasma, lipoproteins, vascular and myocardial tissues) for the identification of biomarkers and molecular targets in atherosclerosis progression, thrombosis, myocardial infarction, and vascular and cardiac remodelling. (Padro Capmany, Teresa; Garcia Arguinzonis, Maisa Ines).
• Functional epigenomics (plasma and whole-blood non-coding RNAs) for biomarker discovery in populations at high cardiovascular risk (familial hypercholesterolemia, morbid obesity) and in cardiovascular diseases including myocardial infarction and heart failure. (Padro Capmany, Teresa; Escate Chavez, Oscar Rafael).
• Lipidomics and metabolomics in cardiovascular disease prevention. (Padro Capmany, Teresa).
• Functional epigenomics of myocardial infarction and post-infarction outcomes (heart failure, cardiogenic shock). (Padro Capmany, Teresa; Escate Chavez, Oscar Rafael).
• Extracellular matrix biology and cardiac remodelling after myocardial infarction. (Padro Capmany, Teresa).
• Circulating extracellular vesicles (microvesicles/exosomes) in subclinical and clinical cardiovascular diseases. (Padro Capmany, Teresa).

Scientific Challenges

• Apply omics, multi-omics integration, and in silico approaches to identify and characterise circulating biomarkers of cardiovascular disease in biological fluids (serum, plasma, urine) and those carried by lipoproteins or extracellular vesicles. This includes proteomics using liquid chromatography, 2D electrophoresis, and mass spectrometry; lipidomics via UPLC–mass spectrometry and NMR; and transcriptomics (mRNA, non-coding RNAs) through arrays, next-generation sequencing, and real-time PCR.
• Generate new knowledge on circulating non-coding RNAs and extracellular vesicles (microvesicles/exosomes), which transport non-coding RNAs (e.g., miRNAs, lncRNAs) and proteins derived from parental cells. Their capacity to reflect defined pathophysiological states makes them promising biomarker candidates for disease monitoring and progression.
• Use of omic and integrated multi-omic data for more accurate stratification of patients according to disease progression and clinical outcome.
• Identify and characterise novel extracellular matrix components involved in tissue remodelling of atherosclerotic vessels and cardiac tissue following myocardial infarction, in order to advance pathophysiological understanding of the disease and uncover biomarkers predictive of disease progression.
• Characterise at the cellular level the molecular and functional mechanisms (gene and protein expression regulation, epigenetic regulation, subcellular protein distribution, paracrine effects, and cellular functions) associated with selected biomarkers and molecular targets in cardiovascular pathology and myocardial remodelling.

Contact

Teresa Padró
tpadro@santpau.cat