ERC Advanced Grant · 2022
Somatic mutations in vascular-wall function and age-associated disease
Already in 1973, Benditt and Benditt found that the atherosclerotic plaque was clonal and proposed that it was a neoplasm of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). Since then, clonality has been confirmed and emerging evidence suggests that clonal expansion of VSMC might be a common theme in vascular disorders. Recent technical advances have made it possible to analyze somatic mutations in human tissues and show that somatic cells accumulate thousands of mutations during development and aging. While most of the mutations are harmless, some either contribute to disease and aging or are directly disease-causative, as in the formation of tumors in cancer. The arterial wall is in part composed of…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.