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Headline: British Heart Foundation Reflections of Research Image Competition

Caption: PICTURE SHOWS: JUDGE'S RUNNER UP - Oxford - Flower from the heart .... The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has today (18 Aug) announced the winners of its annual ‘Reflections of Research’ image competition – reflecting the charity’s groundbreaking research into heart and circulatory diseases. This year’s winning image takes us inside a deadly blood clot - the leading cause of heart attack and stroke. When we’re injured blood clots are life-savers, preventing us from losing too much blood. However, when blood clots form unnecessarily inside blood vessels, they can be deadly. Each year in the UK around 100,000 people die from a heart attack or stroke caused by unwanted blood clots. In the image red blood cells are trapped in the 3D mesh of fibrin fibres, which hold the clot together. One red blood cell had been compressed into a heart shape by the contracting fibres surrounding it. These fibrin fibres have a remarkable ability to stretch without breaking and can be stretched to more than five times their original size, making fibrin the most stretchable biological fibre known to man. Image author Fraser Macrae at the University of Leeds is using state-of-the-art methods to study the structure of blood clots and investigate how the fibre arrangements change their sensitivity to clot busting drugs. He said: “By understanding the difference between deadly clots in patients with cardiovascular disease and clots which help us when we’ve been injured, we hope to design new drugs that remove damaging clots or prevent their formation, ultimately saving lives.” Competition judge, Royal Photographer at Getty Christopher Jackson, said: “This image tells a story of how science and art can come together to help advance our knowledge of modern medicine. At the same time, images like this give us the opportunity to appreciate the incredible beauty in something that is invisible to the human eye.” Another image, An artery’s insides by Dr Mathew Lee, was voted supporter’s favourite and takes us inside innermost layer of a blood vessel. This layer, the endothelium, is a complicated network of cells lining our entire vascular system. Groups of endothelial cells (shown here in purple) operate as an interconnected network, like a modern telecommunication system, to detect and relay signals. If this layer malfunctions, the structure and function of the blood vessel changes, leading to diseases such as high blood pressure and atherosclerosis. Because the endothelium is in the innermost part of blood vessels, it is difficult to study. Image author, Dr Mathew Lee and his colleagues at the University of Strathclyde have developed a new imaging system to visualise the signals sent by the endothelium from inside arteries. By understanding how normal healthy endothelium works and what changes take place in disease the research team hope to generate new treatments targeting the blood vessel. Reflections of Research provides a glimpse into the cutting edge research that the BHF funds. Modern technology allows scientists to image the body in unprecedented detail and provide new insights into ways to prevent and treat heart and circulatory disease. Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive at the BHF, said: “Each of these stunning images tells a story about the BHF’s world-leading research in the fight against heart and circulatory diseases. “Science relies increasingly on ever more sophisticated imaging techniques to help us to see the cellular and molecular processes that conspire to create disease. So whilst this competition is all about the picture, it’s the story behind each one that will save and transform lives.”

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