Blood-vessel oxidative stress linked to brain and heart damage
Official title: Chemogenetic Neurovascular Oxidative Stress: Neurodegeneration and Cardiac Remodeling
Funded at Brigham and Women's Hospital · NIH-11259432 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This research looks at whether extra oxidative stress in blood-vessel cells can cause nerve and heart damage that may relate to dementia.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Brigham and Women's Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | February 2, 2024 |
| Project end | January 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $776,474 |
| NIH project number | 5R01NS131182-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11259432 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
No humans are enrolled in this lab-based mouse project, but the findings are most relevant to people with Alzheimer's disease, vascular contributions to cognitive impairment, or mixed dementia.
✕Less likely to help
Because this is preclinical mouse research, there is no direct opportunity for patient enrollment and no immediate therapeutic benefit to current patients.
What this research studies
From a patient's perspective, researchers are using a lab method to raise levels of a reactive oxygen molecule inside blood-vessel cells in mice to see how that affects nerves and the heart. They created two different mouse lines that turn on the enzyme D-amino acid oxidase in vascular cells and give the mice a harmless chemical to trigger production of hydrogen peroxide. One mouse line developed clear sensory nerve problems and heart enlargement, while the other did not, letting scientists compare how vascular oxidative stress leads to damage. The goal is to learn whether blood-vessel oxidative stress could drive brain degeneration and heart changes linked to dementia.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal new targets or warning signs linking blood-vessel oxidative stress to dementia and related heart problems, guiding future treatments.
How similar studies have gone: Oxidative stress has been linked to neurodegeneration in prior studies, but using chemogenetic DAAO to produce hydrogen peroxide in endothelial cells and produce the reported nerve-and-heart phenotype is a relatively new approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Michel, Thomas — Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Study coordinator: Michel, Thomas
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.