Breeding various mouse strains to investigate the role of FSAP in cardiovascular diseases.

Factor VII activating protease (FSAP) is a serine protease in the blood. Animal experimentation and clinical studies on humans indicate that FSAP influences a range of diseases such as, atherosclerosis, stroke and thrombosis. Atherosclerosis can lead to stroke and thrombosis so all three are closely intertwined. We plan to perform mouse experiments to develop new therapeutic concepts for the above diseases. One way to gain more information about the role of FSAP in diseases is to perform experiments in mice where the FSAP gene has been manipulated genetically to under-express, over express or mutate the gene. This planned project is related to breeding these mice only and no adverse effects are to be expected since we have observed these mice over many years already. The expected benefits of this research is that new therapies will be developed for diseases that cause high morbidity and mortality. Diseases such as atherosclerosis, stroke and myocardial infarction involve complex interactions between many organ systems and pathways that are difficult to mimic in in vitro models. In this project we will use 1000 mice; the actual experiments with these mice will be described in other applications. We are continuously refining our approach to limit the number of animals needed for our research.