The research focus of Prof. Hinkel and her team is in the elucidation of molecular signaling pathways in cardiovascular diseases in order to develop potential new therapeutic approaches. For this purpose, the working group is dealing with a broad spectrum of cardiological diseases such as acute and chronic cardiac ischemia, ischemic or genetic cardiomyopathies, cardiac hypertrophy and the influence of carcino-vascular risk factors on cardiovascular diseases. This research field is predominantly in the large animal model.
One way to positively influence the pathological signaling pathways that occur in the mentioned diseases, in addition to the pharmacological modification, is the gene modification. In addition to inhibitors for non-coding RNA sequences, viral particles, the so-called adeno-associated viral vectors, are used here. Due to their coat proteins, these viruses show a tissue tropism and can thus be used for tissue-specific administration. By using transgenic animal models, it is also possible to investigate this in the context of cardiovascular risk factors, such as diabetes mellitus or hyperlipidemia, thereby improving translation into clinical application.
