Interest Group on Endothelial Plasma Membrane Lipidome (EndotheliOme)

Why endothelial plasma membrane lipidomics

Endothelial cells (EC) lining blood vessels play a crucial role in vascular health, responding to mechanical and environmental stimuli by modifying their plasma membrane lipid composition, organization, and fluidity.

These adaptations are essential for activating membrane proteins and downstream signaling pathways, enabling ECs to act as mechanosensors. Although the impairment of these mechanosensory responses has been linked to the development of various vascular diseases, the specifics of lipid remodeling in response to both short-term (e.g., mechanical stress, thermal changes, smoking) and long-term (e.g., aging, chronic disease) stimuli, and its effects on solute exchanges across the endothelial barrier, remain poorly understood.

Considering the growing prevalence of diet-related diseases and vascular disorders in an aging society, advancing our knowledge of the endothelial plasma membrane lipidome in health and disease is critical. This knowledge is vital for developing strategies to minimize the impact of these conditions and improve vascular health.

Goals

  • Establish a European Network: Form a collaborative network of multidisciplinary professionals to enhance research on endothelial cell membrane lipidomics.
  • Enhance Lipidomic Research: Utilize advanced techniques in lipidomics to better understand lipid metabolism, biochemistry, and the role of lipids in human health and disease.
  • Drive Innovation and Knowledge Exchange: Promote collaborations across academia and industry to innovate and reduce vascular complications in aging populations.

Main lines of interest

Investigate lipid remodeling in endothelial plasma membranes from diseased donors, focusing on lipid asymmetry and the limitations of current in vitro cell models.

Optimize glycosphingolipid analysis protocols to improve knowledge and ensure inter-laboratory reproducibility.

Conduct comprehensive studies on the oxylipidome’s role in redox-mediated signaling and its impact on vascular inflammation.

Explore how plant-based diets affect membrane lipids and their biophysical properties, aiming to restore endothelial function and manage vascular diseases.

Understand lipid distribution and organization in cholesterol-rich membranes to infer in vivo permeability and solute exchange.

Use time-lapse imaging to examine how disease-related lipid remodeling affects membrane architecture and cellular signaling.

Leverage endothelial lipidomic data to model membrane protein conformations, aiding drug design and therapeutic target identification.

Conduct webinars and courses on lipid analysis and membrane characterization; promote academic and student exchanges.

Distribute findings through newsletters, meetings and other communication outputs

Activities

  • Website
  • Webinars, seminars, and symposia within conferences
  • Joint research, joint funding application, COST actions
  • Joint researcher training (doctoral researchers and postdocs)
  • Promote researcher mobility, student & teacher exchange (ERASMUS, EC2U, and other)

Who we want to target

  • Academia

    Research and education/training

  • Stakeholders

    Pharmaceutical industry (vaccines/antibodies), drug development and drug delivery, bioinformatics, nanoparticle research;

Main Contacts

Irundika Dias

diashki1@aston.ac.uk

Ana Reis

anareisscot@gmail.com

CA19105 – Pan-European Network in Lipidomics and EpiLipidomics

CSO Approval Date: 24 March 2020
Start Date: 13 October 2020
End Date: 12 October 2024
EpiLipidNET aims to build and maintain a multidisciplinary pan-European network of researchers, clinicians and enterprises working in the field of lipidomics and epilipidomics to boost a hub of research excellence, advanced knowledge and technology transfer, to promote high level of training for young researchers and facilitate clinical translation.