Active Heart, Stroke & Blood Brain & Nervous System

Neurovascular transmission in carotid arteries

Funder BHF Charity-funded
Recipient organisation University of East Anglia
Funding £126K
Period Feb 2025 — Jan 2028

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

The carotid arteries that supply the brain with blood are controlled by nerves in ways that scientists barely understand. This project will map those nerves in mice and test how they respond to rising carbon dioxide levels during exercise. Carotid artery problems cause strokes, cognitive decline, and vascular dementia, yet the nervous system’s role in regulating blood flow through these vessels remains largely uncharacterised. Researchers know that high CO₂ dilates the arteries to boost cerebral blood flow, but they do not know which nerve types—sympathetic or sensory—drive that response, or whether the internal and external carotid branches behave differently. The project will also examine whether male and female mice show differences in nerve signalling. This is fundamental science. It will not produce a new drug or device. But understanding the molecular basis of neurotransmission in carotid arteries could eventually reveal why these nerves become dysfunctional in cardiovascular disease, and point toward ways to preserve brain blood flow in ageing and dementia. Similar foundational work on vascular control in other arteries has already informed treatments for hypertension and migraine.

View original technical description
Carotid arteries perfuse the head and neck, supplying the brain and eyes through the internal carotid artery, and extra-cranial tissue through the external carotid artery. Reduced blood flow through carotid arteries due to vasospasm or occlusion causes a variety of neurological conditions and is associated with cognitive decline and vascular dementia. Carotid artery blood flow is also highly sensitive to blood CO2, which when elevated due to exercise (hypercapnia), causes vasodilation in carotid arteries, increasing cerebral blood flow. Despite the importance of carotid arteries in health and disease, little is understood regarding how blood flow is controlled by the peripheral nervous system, which is known to become dysfunctional in cardiovascular disease. This studentship will characterise nerves innervating carotid arteries in a mouse model. It will combine myography and electrophysiological methodology to define the molecular basis of neurotransmission in carotid arteries and investigate whether neurotransmission is modulated by hypercapnia. The role of sympathetic and sensory nerves will be investigated. The project will explore functional differences between external and internal carotid arteries and explore sexual dimorphisms in neurotransmission. This project will deliver a comprehensive analysis of neurotransmission in controlling carotid artery blood flow, and high-level training in vascular neuroscience and pharmacology.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Samuel Fountain (EPMC Awardee)

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Original classification

None

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