Prof. Dr. Stefan Offermanns
Department of Pharmacology
Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research
Ludwigstraße 43 | 61231 Bad Nauheim
Cardiovascular damage protection by APP/APLP2
Amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its close homologue APLP2 are expressed in cells of the cardio¬vascular system, but their function is unknown. Starting from our observation that mice with endothelial cell-specific loss of APP and APLP2 show exaggerated responses to myocardial ischemia, we hypothesize that APP/APLP2 are involved in protection against acute damage. We will analyze the protective function of APP/APLP2 in endothelial cells and other cells of the cardiovascular system using different ischemia models, conditional knock-outs and mutant alleles. In vivo analyses will be accompanied by in vitro studies to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the protective function of APP/APLP2.