Research Areas:
Our
laboratory is a part of the cardiovascular division in the Rabin Medical
Center.
Coronary
artery disease remains a leading cause for death. Understanding the equilibrium
between endothelial injury and repair has a particular importance in
cardiovascular disease. The laboratory of cardiovascular biology thus focuses on studying endothelial
injury, atherosclerosis, and endothelial progenitor cell levels and function in
cases of: cardiovascular diseases.
Our research encompasses both basic science topics, mostly related
to cell cultures, and clinical topics- studying different cardiovascular
disease states.
The
laboratory has developed several collaborative efforts, including projects with
Prof. Edith Hochauser from the Cardiac Research Laboratory at Felsenstein
Medical Research Institute, Prof. Dror Fixler, the head of the Institute of
Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials at the Bar Ilan University, Prof. Pia
Raanani and Dr. Galia Spectre from the Institute of Hematology, Davidoff
Center, Beilinson Hospital and Galit Granot, from the Laboratory of
Experimental Hematology at the Felsenstein Medical Research Institute. These
studies utilize models of human cell cultures, imaging studies in humans and in
animals, the application of gold nano-particles and other innovative methods.
Research
Topics:
Endothelial
progenitor cells:
1. The effect of
proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors on endothelial
progenitor cells.
2. Long term evaluation of endothelial progenitor cells in patient
undergoing hematopoietic stem-cells translation.
3. The effect of Amyloid targeted therapies on endothelial
progenitor cells.
4. Differences in endothelial progenitor cell count and function
in patients suffering from myocardial infarction treated with the
new-generation P2Y12 inhibitors.
Colony forming units (CFUs) of endothelial progenitor cells, after
7 days culture.
Platelets:
1. Reticulated platelets in patients with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy
2. Thrombin generation in patients treated with the new P2Y12 inhibitors.
3. Studies focusing on reticulated platelets in different clinical
scenarios.
Atherosclerosis
1. The pathogenesis of accelerated atherosclerosis as a postulated
mechanism for cardiovascular toxicity of tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
2. Gold nano-particles as detection and treatment for
atherosclerotic vascular disease.
3. M1 and M2 macrophages and its ability to uptake gold
nanoparticles.