Stroke is the 3rd leading cause of death in the world. However, the only available drug, which is used to dissolve the clot and restore blood flow to the affected area, is only used in ~4% of patients. Novel and effective therapies are therefore needed. My studies will focus on preconditioning, which is a process whereby a stimulus below the threshold of damage is applied, leading to tissue resistance to the same, or different stimuli given beyond damage threshold. Preconditioning is an attractive new strategy to identify protective mechanisms that could be therapeutically implemented, particularly in patients at high risk for stroke.
The lipid hormone sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a survival factor for many cell types and is a key player in the mechanisms protecting various organs against hypoxia or ischemia. The aim of this project is to use cells derived from brain to test in vitro whether different preconditioning stimuli generate S1P, and whether this S1P makes these cells more resistant to a lack of oxygen and nutrients by acting on specific membrane receptors.
These studies should establish the importance of a new pathway providing protection against ischemia. Knowledge of the molecular interactions involved in this pathway may provide novel therapeutic targets for stroke, as well as for other conditions such as neurodegenerative disorders and cancer. Hence, the benefits of understanding these interactions will extend much beyond the field of brain ischemia.
