Team:NTU-Singapore/Project

The Problem

The NTU iGEM '09 Team has identified atherosclerosis as the problem we would like to tackle.

Atherosclerosis is one of the major diseases affecting the world. In our research, up to 7.2 million people are affected by coronary artery disease alone; a majority of these are caused by atherosclerosis. In most cases, diagnosis is rare, medications are not ideal and surgeries are a commonly used last resort.

Our goal is to identify plaque sites and degrade the lipid core in vivo using a biological system.

Background

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease caused by the buildup and hardening of fatty deposits on arterial walls. This accumulation eventually restricts the blood flow through the affected vessels.

The condition starts with damage to arterial endothelium by risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, irritants like nicotine etc. The initial damage is then aggravated into an inflammatory condition by platelet clumping.

This disruptive accumulation facilitates the accumulation of fatty deposits (oxidized LDL-cholesterol) and other cellular waste products. Special white blood cells that engulf the cholesterol derivatives, are unable to break them down. Hence these white blood cells become foam cells. Over time, all this debris hardens into a plaque.

The plaque proceeds to grow until the vessel's lumen becomes increasingly obstructed, leading to severe complications due to reduced blood flow.

Here's an informative video describing the nature of atherosclerotic buildup, and the deadly consequences.

In our research and literature review, we identified the following characteristics of plaque buildup.

• Intuitively, we understand that decreased lumen area due to plaque leads to faster flow rate of blood.
• Research shows that damaged arterial endothelium exhibits p-selectin abundantly at the lumen surface to signal for help.
  • This p-selectin binds selectively to p-selectin glycoprotein ligand (PSGL-1) via natural catch-bond mechanism, which works best in fast-flowing conditions.
• Research indicates that damage to arterial endothelial cells leads to decreased local levels of nitric oxide (NO) in blood.
  • On a tangential note, NO is also a known vasodilator.
• We find that the lipid core in foam cells are in the form of oxidized cholesterols, ie. cholesteryl esters.
  • The body is not able to break down cholesterol found in this form.
• Diagnosis of plaque is usually done in late-stage due to delayed symptoms.
  • Reasons include the gradual buildup of plaque & bodily adjustment to initial stages of plaque buildup .

Inadequacy of current treatments

Atherosclerotic plaque buildup is a gradual process. It does not help that the body accommodates for any changes, hence delaying the onset of symptoms until it's too late. Symptoms themselves vary depending on which arteries exactly the plaque buildup develop.

As such, present medications are catered largely toward immediate relief of symptoms, and less on reversing the condition. Unfortunately, the medication is also accompanied by the need for a complete lifestyle change to prevent the problem from getting worse.

More often that we would prefer, surgery becomes a necessary option due to the late-stage urgency. These are major surgeries, like bypass surgery (including open-heart surgery) & stent placement. These surgeries are followed by long recovery periods, which may be devastating to patients.

Engineering a solution

References/Literature

See the complete list of references here.