In Vivo Cell Biology Approach to Defining the Natural History of HHT-Associated AVMs

 

Cure HHT is pleased to announce that Beth Roman, Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh has been awarded a $45,000 grant for her research entitled “In Vivo Cell Biology Approach to Defining the Natural History of HHT-Associated AVMs”.

 

Dr. Roman’s Cure HHT seed grant has been leveraged to $2.0MM through NIH

 

Proposed Research Study

The goal of Dr. Roman’s laboratory research is to understand the molecular and cellular errors that lead to HHT-associated arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). The tool that she will use for this purpose is a small, unassuming freshwater fish that swims happily in many home aquaria: the zebrafish. Using a zebrafish model of HHT2, which harbors a mutation in alk1 and develops embryonic AVMs at a predictable time and location, Dr. Roman’s laboratory has recently described a novel two-step mechanism for HHT-associated AVM development. Her results suggest to us that the function of ALK1 is to regulate the caliber of newly-formed arteries, and that in the absence of ALK1, AVMs arise secondarily to arterial enlargement and represent a well intentioned but ill-fated attempt by the vasculature to accommodate increased blood flow.

“This exciting and innovative research will allow us to understand the natural history of AVM development which is necessary for drug development and an eventual cure for HHT,” states Marianne Clancy, Executive Director of Cure HHT. Dr. Roman is very excited to begin her study. She tells Cure HHT that, “I am honored to have been chosen and I am confident that results will provide novel insight into the cellular behaviors that lead to AVMs, which in turn will help to direct efforts to develop HHT therapeutics.”

 

Research Final Report by Beth Roman

Cure HHT is grateful for the anonymous donor who contributed the money to make this very important research possible.