Dr Mandy Grootaert

Vascular smooth muscle cells derived from human atherosclerotic plaques show multiple characteristics of senescence, both in vitro and in vivo. Identifying the mechanisms that control this process is crucial to understand their impact on atherogenesis and to develop potentially new anti-atherosclerotic strategies. Sirtuins, a class of enzymes with deacetylase and ADP-ribosyltransferase activity, are expressed in human atherosclerotic plaques and have been implicated in organism longevity, genomic stability, apoptosis, and energy metabolism. Previous work at our laboratory has shown that Sirtuin 1 protects against an unstable atherosclerotic plaque phenotype in mice. Therefore, we investigate their role in vascular smooth muscle cells in regulating DNA damage, senescence, apoptosis and lipid metabolism using different mouse models of atherosclerosis.