Isabel Goncalves

Isabel Goncalves

Dangerous atherosclerotic plaques: underlying mechanisms and new tools to detect them

Vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques (also called atherosclerotic plaques) are prone to rupture and cause strokes and heart attacks. My goal is to detect people with vulnerable plaques before they develop symptoms, identify clinical markers of disease and understand the mechanisms of plaque rupture. Using assays such as laser microscopy and gene sequencing on plaques from humans and cultured cells, I will 1) study plaque turnover and age and its link to vulnerable plaques, 2) identify rupture pathways in human plaques that could be stabilized by new drugs, and 3) further develop and evaluate a novel non-invasive ultrasound for plaque structure and monitoring treatment effects.

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5 selected publications

Sun J, Singh P, Shami A, Kluza E, Pan M, Djordjevic D, Barascuk Michaelsen N, Kennbäck C, van der Wel NN, Orho-Melander M, Nilsson J, Formentini I, Conde-Knape K, Lutgens E, Edsfeldt A*, Gonçalves I*. Spatial Transcriptional Mapping Reveals Site-Specific Pathways Underlying Human Atherosclerotic Plaque Rupture. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2023 Jun 13;81(23):2213-2227. doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2023.04.008

Edsfeldt A, Singh P, Matthes F, Tengryd C, Cavalera M, Bengtsson E, Dunér P, Volkov P, Karadimou G, Gisterå A, Orho-Melander M, Nilsson J, Sun J, Gonçalves I. Transforming growth factor-β2 is associated with atherosclerotic plaque stability and lower risk for cardiovascular events. Cardiovascular Research, 2023 Sep 5;119(11):2061-2073. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvad079

Edsfeldt A, Swart M, Singh P, Dib L, Sun J, Cole JE, Park I, Al-Sharify D, Persson A, Nitulescu M, Das Neves Borges P, Kassiteridi C, Goddard ME, Lee R, Volkov P, Orho-Melander M, Maegdefessel L, Nilsson J, Udalova I, Goncalves I*, Monaco C*. Interferon regulatory factor-5-dependent CD11c+ macrophages contribute to the formation of rupture-prone atherosclerotic plaques. Eur Heart J, 2022, Feb 9:ehab920. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehab920

Edsfeldt A, Stenström KE, Sun J, Dias N, Skog G, Singh P, Mattsson S, Nilsson J, Gonçalves I. Human Atherosclerotic Plaque Progression Is Dependent on Apoptosis According to Bomb-Pulse 14CDating. JACC Basic Transl Sci, 2021, Oct 25;6(9-10):734-745. doi: 10.1016/j.jacbts.2021.08.005.

Gonçalves I, Stenström K, Matsson S, Nitulescu M, Nilsson J. Dating components of human atherosclerotic plaques. Circulation Research. 2010; 106(6):1174-7.