The Marques Laboratory
Integrating microbes and molecular biology to prevent cardiovascular disease
Welcome to our lab!
Our vision is to find the molecular mechanisms behind blood pressure regulation so that we can prevent the development of heart failure and other fatal forms of cardiovascular disease. We take a systemic approach because blood pressure regulation is complex and fascinating. This is achieved by using the latest technology available, which includes detecting RNA molecules at the single-cell level using sequencing and imaging, developing new microRNA knockout models using CRISPR/Cas9 technology and sequencing gut microbes, all of that integrated with traditional techniques in the fields of physiology and cardiovascular imaging. We work in multi-disciplinary teams that reflect the complexity of the blood pressure regulation to facilitate advancing research and translating our findings.
New Commentary in Top Cardiovascular Journal
Missing Heritability of Hypertension and Our Microbiome: Have We Been Searching in the Wrong Place?
Want to learn everything about gut microbiota in hypertension?
Check out our review published in Nature Reviews Cardiology
Beyond gut feelings: how the gut microbiota regulates blood pressure
Awards
2019 was a wonderful year for the lab! Francine won the prestigious AHA Hypertension Council Goldblatt Award and was a finalist for the Eureka Emerging Science Leader Prize and the ISH Oral ECR Award, Hamdi was a finalist for the ISH Oral Student Award, and Rikeish won the HBPRCA Student Poster Award (at his first conference!) - just WOW. Photos here
Research
Unlocking the Mysteries of Blood Pressure Regulation
We are passionate about our research and want to make a difference.
Do you want to join us in our mission?
Contact Us
School of Biological Sciences,
Faculty of Science
Monash University, Clayton,
Melbourne, Australia
+61-03-9905 6958
Gut microbiota
There is emerging evidence that the microbes that inhabit our colon, also known as the gut microbiota, might have a role in the regulation of blood pressure. Consumption of a diet high in fibre increases gut microbiota populations that generate short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). We have determined that a diet rich in fibre or SCFA modulates gut microbes and prevents the development of cardiovascular disease. We are now trying to understand the mechanisms involved, how the gut and its microbes communicate with other key tissues, as well as performing clinical trials to decrease the burden of cardiovascular disease through prevention of hypertension.
microRNAs
MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs which bind to untranslated regions of many genes including those responsible for cardiovascular disease. We are interested in understanding how microRNAs regulate blood pressure and might lead to heart failure. This includes microRNAs that control expression of genes involved in traditional pathways that regulate blood pressure, including the renin angiontensin system and sympathetic activation. In the heart, we are interested in microRNAs that regulate developmental origins of disease, as well as those in the transcardiac gradient that could be used as real markers of disease.