Diabetic cardiomyopathy – an epidemic disease

• 
  Research Project Leader
  Professor Lea Delbridge

  lmd@unimelb.edu.au

  View researcher's webpage

  +61 3 8344 5853

Project Details

Globally, diabetes is an epidemic disease with a specific cardiopathology independent of associated cardiovascular risk profiles. Diabetic hearts are more vulnerable to developing failure, especially after a myocardial infarct. Our work focuses on understanding the metabolic and structural changes leading to both diastolic and systolic dysfunction, examining how circulating glucose and insulin impacts on cardiopathology and identifying potential molecular targets for intervention. This project will utilise experimental models of type 1 and type 2 diabetes to investigate the molecular and structural adaptations in the diabetic heart . We use cutting edge gene delivery and gene editing tools to create boutique experimental models of disease. This project may also involve work with clinical biopsy samples, as part of an associated project to develop biomarkers for early detection of cardiomyopathic disease.

Collaborators

Mellor Laboratory at the University of Auckland

Research Publications

1. Janssens JV, Ma B, Brimble MA, Van Eyk JE, Delbridge LMD, Mellor KM. Cardiac troponins may be irreversibly modified by glycation: novel potential mechanisms of cardiac performace modulation. Sci Rep. 2018 Oct 31;8(1):16084. Pubmed Link
2. Chandramouli C, Reichelt ME, Curl CL, Varma U, Bienvenu LA, Koutsifeli P, Raaijmakers AJA, De Blasio MJ, Qin CX, Jenkins AJ, Ritchie RH, Mellor KM, Delbridge LMD. Diastolic dysfunction is more apparent in STZ-induced diabetic female mice, despite less pronounced hyperglycemia. Sci Rep. 2018 Feb 5;8(1):2346. Pubmed Link
3. Varma U, Koutsifeli P, Benson VL, Mellor KM, Delbridge LMD. Molecular mechanisms of cardiac pathology in diabetes - Experimental insights. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis. 2018 May;1864(5 Pt B):1949-1959. Pubmed Link
4. Delbridge LMD, Mellor KM, Taylor DJ, Gottlieb RA. Myocardial stress and autophagy: mechanisms and potential therapies. Nat Rev Cardiol. 2017 Jul;14(7):412-425. doi: 10.1038/nrcardio.2017.35. Pubmed Link
5. Mellor KM, Varma U, Stapleton DI, Delbridge LMD. Cardiomyocyte glycophagy is regulated by insulin and exposure to high extracellular glucose. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2014 Apr 15;306(8):H1240-5. Pubmed Link