PhD defence Vanessa Bröker

Keywords: Thrombo-inflammation, Vascular remodeling, Vascular smooth muscle cells, Tissue factor pathway inhibitor

"Vascular Remodeling in Thrombo-Inflammation"

Cardiovascular disease remains the world’s leading cause of death globally, largely driven by thrombo-inflammation, a harmful cycle where blood clotting, inflammation, and blood vessel damage feed into one another. Understanding this complex process is critical for developing more effective therapies. The doctoral research in this thesis investigates two fundamental players in vascular health: tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), a key protein that regulates blood clotting, and the extracellular matrix, the structural framework surrounding blood vessel cells. The thesis highlights two main breakthroughs. First, the development of a human umbilical cord-derived blood vessel coating that allows scientists to model clot formation and vascular disease far more accurately in lab settings. Second, using a genetically modified variant of TFPI revealed that it does more than control clotting. It actively protects vessel wall cells from abnormal growth and vascular calcification. Ultimately, these findings improve how cardiovascular disease is studied and highlight TFPI as a promising target for future treatments.

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