Understanding the Role of Tenascin-C in Heart Muscle Scarring and Disease Progression
PIs: Attila Kiss/Bruno Podesser
Heart disease places a major burden on society, limiting quality of life and causing premature disability and death. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a frequent inherited heart condition that can affect young and otherwise healthy people, yet current treatments mainly relieve symptoms and do not reverse disease progression. This project at the LBI focuses on Tenascin C (TNC), a protein that is switched on in stressed hearts and is closely linked to scarring and stiffening of the heart muscle. Such changes make the heart less flexible and can further accelerate the disease progression and lead to heart failure. We aim to clarify how TNC drives these harmful processes and worsens heart function in HCM. Understanding this mechanism may open new ways to slow or prevent disease progression and reduce the long-term burden of HCM or other heart diseases.
Decoding Blood Vessel and Blood Cell Interactions in Clot Resolution and Post-Thrombotic Disease
PIs: Philipp Hohensinner/Julia Pointner
Deep-vein thrombosis injures the vein and can leave lasting problems. We will test in mouse models whether strengthening that lining after a clot forms retains immune cells within the lumen, speeds clot breakdown, and prevents vein-wall scarring and recurrence. In parallel, we will map how the clot’s mechanical forces reprogram endothelial cells and whether barrier protection blunts this change, laying groundwork for future therapies.
Biographical Sketches
Bruno K. Podesser, MD, MBA is full professor of laboratory animal research and associate professor of cardac surgery. Since 2014, he serves as Head of Center for Biomedical Research and Translational Surgery at the Medical University of Vienna. After training at the General Hospital (AHK) Vienna, he did a postdoc fellowoship at the “Cardiac Muscle Research Lab (Carl Apstein)” at Boston University, followed by a visiting professorship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Jo Loscalzo), Harvard Medical School before he became the founding coordinator of the Ludwig Boltzmann Cluster for Cardiovascular Research (2006-08), now LBI for Cardiovascular Research. His major scientific contributions are in translational cardiovascular research, with a focus on ischemia-reperfusion inury, endothelial dysfunction and more recently in pressure and volume overload. Dr. Podesser has an h-index of 44 and published in all major cardiovascular journals. He served as associate editor in the European J of Cardiothoracic Surgery, the J Cardiovascular Pharmacology and ESC Heart Failure. Additionally, he is reviewer for the Swiss National Fonds, the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation and the EU Horizon program.
Attila Kiss, PhD is an Associate Professor at the Center for Biomedical Research and Translational Surgery at the Medical University of Vienna, specializing in experimental and translational cardiovascular research. He obtained his PhD from the University of Szeged and completed postdoctoral training at the Karolinska Institute and the Medical University of Vienna. His research focuses on the mechanisms of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, heart failure, and adverse cardiac remodeling, with the aim of developing novel cardioprotective strategies. He has extensive expertise in small and large animal models of cardiovascular disease, with his research addressing extracellular matrix remodeling—particularly the role of Tenascin-C—as well as cardiometabolic dysfunction and inflammatory signaling. Prof. Kiss has published widely in high-impact journals, participates in international research consortia, and is actively involved in mentoring young scientists in cardiovascular research.
Philipp Hohensinner is an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator at the Center for Biomedical Research and Translational Surgery at the Medical University of Vienna, where he leads the “Vascular Biology” group. He also serves as a Project Leader within the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute (LBI) for Cardiovascular Research. His research focuses on innate immune mechanisms in health and disease, particularly monocyte and macrophage biology, and how inflammatory programs intersect with vascular pathology, thrombosis, and cardiometabolic disease. In addition, his work spans virus infection associated vascular biology and endothelial dysfunction, aligning with broader efforts to understand post-viral syndromes and vascular sequelae.
Julia B. Kral-Pointner is a Hertha Firnberg fellow at the Medical University of Vienna and serves as Deputy Head within Philipp Hohensinner’s research group. Her work focuses on immunothrombosis, specifically how macrophages and platelets (and their crosstalk with the endothelium) shape thrombo-inflammatory processes in thrombosis and atherosclerosis. She trained in molecular biology at the University of Vienna and completed doctoral research on platelet and innate immune cell biology in pulmonary disease, followed by postdoctoral training at Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) investigating endothelial mechanisms in thrombosis.