The Boston University School of Medicine recently received a $12 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to conduct extensive research on the pathological effects of cardiovascular proteons — known to most as proteins.
Dr. Aram Chobanion, dean of the School of Medicine, said the NHLBI grant selection process was part of a wide-reaching program that considered many factors among a large number of qualified schools and departments.
The NHLBI organizes and supports programs consisting mainly of integrated research, providing funding for both self-reliant and grant-oriented programs that study cardiopulmonary structures and diseases.
According to Chobanion, the grant spoke highly of BU’s teaching and protein research. The institute described the School of Medicine as “highly qualified to develop new techniques to study and characterize the role of proteins in human biology, and particularly in the case of cardiovascular diseases.”
While the grant represents a step forward in continued scientific research in the important field of proteonic studies, Chobanion said proteins have rarely been investigated in the study of diseases relating to the heart and its branching systems.
“Proteins are the biological materials directly responsible for the functions of each cell and for the [whole] body, yet very little is known about them,” Chobanion said. “Genes provide products that serve as templates for protein synthesis, but the proteins are what is important in causing human diseases.”
Serving as the building blocks of muscle tissue, proteins provide a base to secure overall muscular stability, according to cardiovascular reference Web site thrombosisonline.com. Furthermore, the proteins’ effect on the cardiopulmonary system can be traced to many common diseases, including coronary artery disease, congenital heart failure, and other thrombosis-related heart disorders that may have originated from structural damage.
The school plans to use the grant funding to improve existing methods used for protein research and to purchase new equipment, Chobanion said. The new research will be led by biochemical research professor Catherine Costello and will investigate both animal and human diseases, searching to find any possible similarities between the species.
The School of Medicine also plans to distribute a portion of the funds toward a new facility dedicated to the study of proteins, which will be available to the entire scientific community at Boston University, Chobanion said.
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