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Dr Aisah Aubdool

Aisah

Lecturer in Cardiovascular Pharmacology

Centre: Translational Medicine and Therapeutics

Email: a.aubdool@qmul.ac.uk
Twitter: @Dr_A_cubed

Profile

ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4712-9421

Aisah Aubdool is a Lecturer in Cardiovascular Pharmacology at the William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). She obtained a BSc in Pharmacology at King’s College London in 2009 before completing an MRes in Integrative Biomedicine where she received extensive in vivo training in mammalian biology. She subsequently obtained her PhD in the field of cardiovascular medical research under the mentorship of Professor Susan D Brain at the same institution. During her PhD research, she identified transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) as a vascular cold sensor and made significant contribution to the mechanistic understanding of TRPA1 in vascular homeostasis. In 2014, she started her post-doctoral research training, also with Professor Susan D Brain in collaboration with Novo Nordisk where she demonstrated that a novel α-Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) analogue protects against the cardiac dysfunction associated with high blood pressure.

In 2016, Aisah joined Professor Adrian J Hobbs’ group at the William Harvey Research Institute, to investigate the role of C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) in angiogenesis and vascular remodelling. During this time, she identified CNP as a previously unrecognised, yet vital, pro-angiogenic mediator that is critically involved in protecting against human vascular ischemia. The outstanding calibre of her research has been recognised by prestigious awards and prizes from the BBSRC (Sparking Impact Award 2015), British Pharmacological Society (BPS Bill Bowman Award-2017, Pickford Award-2019), American Heart Association (2017), North American Vascular Biology Organization (NAVBO-2019) & the Federation of European Pharmacological Societies (EPHAR-2022). In 2022, she was appointed as a Lecturer in Cardiovascular Pharmacology at QMUL.

Aisah is involved in various teaching activities within the BSc Pharmacology and Innovative Therapeutics, MBBS and MRes in Cardiac & Vascular Medicine programmes. She is a mentor for the WHRI BAME Mentoring Scheme and works closely with the WHRI society to support undergraduate students at QMUL. She is also the ECR lead for the Faculty of Medicine 2021-2026 Strategy – Integrated Physiology and 3D Models.

In addition to her research, Aisah is currently a BPS ambassador coordinator. She was also the Chair of the IUPHAR ECR Committee (2018-2022) where she advocates for early career pharmacologists worldwide. She is a member of the BPS Engagement Committee and Senior Editor for the BPS magazine Pharmacology Matters.

Research

Aortic aneurysm is a life-threatening disease that is caused by focal enlargement or 'ballooning' of the aorta (the body’s largest blood vessel) in the abdominal (AAA) or thoracic (TAA) regions. If left untreated, it ultimately leads to rupture and exsanguination, accounting for 1-2% of total cardiovascular mortality. Aortic aneurysm is often characterised by chronic inflammation, haemodynamic stress and structural weakness; it is particularly common in patients with connective tissue disorders such as Marfan syndrome. Aortic aneurysm is currently detected through screening and is then monitored by ultrasound until it reaches an "intervention threshold" in patients. Intervention approaches currently includes high-risk surgery such as endovascular repair or open surgery. As there are a no pharmacological treatments, development of novel drug-based therapies for aortic aneurysm is desperately needed.  

Her research focusses on understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in forming and developing aortic aneurysm to develop novel therapeutic approaches. She is particularly interested in understanding the role of natriuretic peptides in both TAA and AAA.

Key Publications

Full list of publications

  1. Perez-Ternero C, Aubdool AA, Makwana R, Sanger GJ, Stimson RH, Chan LF, Moyes AJ, Hobbs AJ. C-type natriuretic peptide is a pivotal regulator of metabolic homeostasis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Mar 29;119(13):e2116470119.
  2. Grange RMH, Preedy MEJ, Renukanthan A, Dignam JP, Lowe VJ, Moyes AJ, Pérez-Ternero C, Aubdool AA, Baliga RS, Hobbs AJ. Multidrug resistance proteins preferentially regulate natriuretic peptide-driven cGMP signalling in the heart and vasculature. Br J Pharmacol. 2022 Jun;179(11):2443-2459.
  3. Argunhan F, Thapa D, Aubdool AA, Carlini E, Arkless K, Hendrikse ER, de Sousa Valente J, Kodji X, Barrett B, Ricciardi CA, Gnudi L, Hay DL, Brain SD. Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Protects Against Cardiovascular Dysfunction Independently of Nitric Oxide In Vivo. 2021 Apr;77(4):1178-1190.
  4. Dukinfield M, Maniati E, Reynolds LE, Aubdool A, Baliga RS, D'Amico G, Maiques O, Wang J, Bedi KC Jr, Margulies KB, Sanz-Moreno V, Hobbs A, Hodivala-Dilke K. Repurposing an anti-cancer agent for the treatment of hypertrophic heart disease. J Pathol. 2019 Dec;249(4):523-535.
  5. Moyes AJ, Chu SM, Aubdool AA, Dukinfield MS, Margulies KB, Bedi KC, Hodivala-Dilke K, Baliga RS, Hobbs AJ. C-type natriuretic peptide co-ordinates cardiac structure and function. Eur Heart J. 2020 Mar 1;41(9):1006-1020.
  6. Bubb KJ*, Aubdool AA*, Moyes AJ, Lewis S, Drayton JP, Tang O, Mehta V, Zachary IC, Abraham DJ, Tsui J, Hobbs AJ. Endothelial C-Type Natriuretic Peptide Is a Critical Regulator of Angiogenesis and Vascular Remodeling. Circulation. 2019 Mar 26;139(13):1612-1628.
  7. Baliga RS, Preedy MEJ, Dukinfield MS, Chu SM, Aubdool AA, Bubb KJ, Moyes AJ, Tones MA, Hobbs AJ. Phosphodiesterase 2 inhibition preferentially promotes NO/guanylyl cyclase/cGMP signaling to reverse the development of heart failure. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Jul 31;115(31):E7428-E7437.
  8. Barrese V, Stott JB, Figueiredo HB, Aubdool AA, Hobbs AJ, Jepps TA, McNeish AJ, Greenwood IA. Angiotensin II Promotes KV7.4 Channels Degradation Through Reduced Interaction With HSP90 (Heat Shock Protein 90). Hypertension. 2018 Jun;71(6):1091-1100.
  9. Wilde E, Aubdool AA, Thakore P, Baldissera L Jr, Alawi KM, Keeble J, Nandi M, Brain SD. Tail-Cuff Technique and Its Influence on Central Blood Pressure in the Mouse. J Am Heart Assoc. 2017 Jun 27;6(6):e005204.
  10. Aubdool AA, Thakore P, Argunhan F, Smillie SJ, Schnelle M, Srivastava S, Alawi KM, Wilde E, Mitchell J, Farrell-Dillon K, Richards DA, Maltese G, Siow RC, Nandi M, Clark JE, Shah AM, Sams A, Brain SD. A Novel α-Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Analogue Protects Against End-Organ Damage in Experimental Hypertension, Cardiac Hypertrophy, and Heart Failure. Circulation. 2017 Jul 25;136(4):367-383.
  11. Srivastava S, Blower PJ, Aubdool AA, Hider RC, Mann GE, Siow RC. Cardioprotective effects of Cu(II)ATSM in human vascular smooth muscle cells and cardiomyocytes mediated by Nrf2 and DJ-1. Sci Rep. 2016 Dec 21;6(1):7. doi: 10.1038/s41598-016-0012-5.
  12. Aubdool AA, Kodji X, Abdul-Kader N, Heads R, Fernandes ES, Bevan S, Brain SD. TRPA1 activation leads to neurogenic vasodilatation: involvement of reactive oxygen nitrogen species in addition to CGRP and NO. Br J Pharmacol. 2016 Aug;173(15):2419-33.
  13. Alawi KM, Russell FA, Aubdool AA, Srivastava S, Riffo-Vasquez Y, Baldissera L Jr, Thakore P, Saleque N, Fernandes ES, Walsh DA, Brain SD. Transient receptor potential canonical 5 (TRPC5) protects against pain and vascular inflammation in arthritis and joint inflammation. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017 Jan;76(1):252-260.
  14. Alawi KM, Aubdool AA, Liang L, Wilde E, Vepa A, Psefteli MP, Brain SD, Keeble JE. The sympathetic nervous system is controlled by transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 in the regulation of body temperature. FASEB J. 2015 Oct;29(10):4285-98.
  15. Aubdool AA, Graepel R, Kodji X, Alawi KM, Bodkin JV, Srivastava S, Gentry C, Heads R, Grant AD, Fernandes ES, Bevan S, Brain SD. TRPA1 is essential for the vascular response to environmental cold exposure. Nat Commun. 2014 Dec 11;5:5732.
  16. Aubdool AA, Brain SD. Neurovascular aspects of skin neurogenic inflammation. J Investig Dermatol Symp Proc. 2011 Dec;15(1):33-9.
  17. Aubdool AA, Graepel R, Brain SD ( 2011 ). A potential link between the TRPA1 and TRPV1 receptors in vivo. Inflammation Research. 60; 203-203.

Collaborators

Internal
Professor Adrian Hobbs (QMUL); Professor Aung Oo (QMUL)

External
Dr Janice Tsui (Royal Free Hospital); Professor Alan Daugherty (University of Kentucky); Dr Hong Lu (University of Kentucky); Professor Scott LeMaire (Baylor College of Medicine)

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