Renata Pereira Alambert, PhD, assistant professor in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center, has received a three-year, $450,000 grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust. The grant will fund Pereira’s research project “Adipose Tissue-Heart Crosstalk in Cardiovascular Disease.”

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. While traditional risk factors like diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol are well known, emerging research highlights the critical role of fat tissue—including the brown and white  fat types—in cardiometabolic health and disease. The central focus of the Pereira lab’s project is to investigate how the mitochondria in fat tissue affects heart function in response to stress. 

Pereira’s previous National Institutes of Health- and American Heart Association-funded studies examined how the mitochondrial protein OPA1 influences fat tissue and overall metabolism. Her team discovered that mice lacking OPA1 in brown fat had better metabolism, healthier white fat that burned more energy, and stronger heart function in the absence of cardiac stress. However, mice with OPA1-deficient in white and brown fat developed poor metabolic health, inflamed and dysfunctional white fat, and lipodystrophy. These findings suggest that healthy white fat supports heart function, while unhealthy white fat contributes to disease—even in the absence of obesity. Because these mouse models reflect what researchers observe in humans, they are valuable tools for studying how fat tissue affects heart health.

“We will use these mice to study how mitochondrial stress in adipose tissue affects the progression of heart failure after a heart attack and uncover new ways fat tissue influences heart health,” Pereira said. “We aim to find new fat factors that may protect the heart.”

In collaboration with the Iowa Living Human Heart Program, Pereira’s team will also compare gene expression in epicardial fat (a type of fat tissue that surrounds the heart) from healthy and diseased human hearts. Her team will compare results from the humans and mice to identify the most promising molecules for human health, providing exciting translational potential. Then, they will test these findings in human cells and animal models to validate targets and understand their mechanisms.

“This study has the potential to uncover novel therapeutic targets that can prevent or mitigate cardiovascular diseases. Our team is well-positioned to carry out future experiments where targets identified in the current proposal will be validated and tested in cells and in new transgenic mouse models,” Pereira said.

Dr. Pereira said she is “extremely grateful” for the generous financial support of the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, which will allow her research program to integrate her interest in diabetes and metabolic health with her training in cardiovascular research to investigate inter-organ communication in cardiovascular disease.