NIH R01 · 2024
Artery biomechanics and vascular damage in sickle cell disease
Sickle cell disease (SCD) affects approximately 100,000 people in the U.S. but 300,000 babies are born with SCD every year globally. Currently few pharmaceutical options are available as a therapy, and life expectancy is still low for these individuals. Consequences of accelerated arterial damage include a 221-fold increased risk of strokes in children and then increased risk of hemorrhagic strokes during the third decade of life. Elastic lamina fragmentation were hallmarks identified in autopsy specimens of children with SCD, but underlying mechanisms are unclear and therefore cannot be prevented. Cysteine cathepsins are powerful proteases implicated in elastin and collagen degradation in…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.