A Closer Look at Carotid Plaques
Stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, yet scientists have long lacked a detailed picture of what happens inside the carotid arteries – the vessels that supply blood to the brain. When fatty deposits, known as plaques, build up in these arteries, they can rupture or block blood flow and trigger a stroke. Until now, little was known about how the structure and cellular makeup of these plaques change over time.
The interdisciplinary team of researchers and clinicians, including Dr. Michael Menden, Dr. Holger Prokisch, Daniel Garger and Fatemeh Peyani from the Computational Health Center at Helmholtz Munich, as well as Prof. Lars Maegdefessel and Jessica Pauli from the TUM, has now created a high-resolution map of human carotid artery plaques. Using a combination of bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing together with single-cell spatial transcriptomics, the team was able to identify not only which cell types appear in the tissue but also how they are arranged. This integrated view sheds new light on the cellular and molecular processes that shape plaque development and determine which plaques may become dangerous.
Towards Improved Diagnosis and Treatment
The study offers important insights into why some plaques remain stable while others become prone to rupture. Understanding these mechanisms in greater detail may help researchers develop better diagnostic methods to detect high-risk plaques earlier and inform new treatment strategies to prevent vascular diseases, such as stroke.
Original Publication
Pauli et al., 2025: Single cell spatial transcriptomics integration deciphers the morphological heterogeneity of atherosclerotic carotid arteries. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-67679-4
