Région Pays de la Loire "Etoile Montante" : Anne Clémence Vion (2025 - 2027)
Today, the mechanisms of vascular remodeling responsible for the establishment of the arterial network are becoming well understood: they depend on both a developmental program (innate) and local hemodynamic changes (acquired). Similarly, the heterogeneity of vascular cells across organs is relatively well described.
However, vascular heterogeneity within arteries, particularly abranching points, remains unknown, even though these areas are exposed to highly variable local hemodynamics and are the site of vascular pathologies such as intracranial aneurysms (IA).
The VEGA project therefore aims to answer the following questions: Are the cells in cerebral arteribranches different from those in linear segments? How do these differences protect against or contribute to the occurrence of IAs?
Using a mouse model of IAs combined with a single-cell RNA sequencing studies, the objectives of this project are:
- Demonstrate the existence of specific populations in cerebral arterial bifurcations;
- Characterize these cells phenotypically;
- Describe the effects of general hemodynamic changes on the transcriptomic signature of these bifurcation populations.
UMAP illustrating cell populations within a cerebral artery
