Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) are a family of seven circulating proteins which can regulate numerous cellular processes. IGFBPs interact with Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) as well as cell surface receptors to mediate their effects. IGFBPs are thought to be involved in numerous diseases, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this project is to understand the associations between IGFBPs and their interacting factors with cardiometabolic disease. This will be part of a PhD project which explores the therapeutic potential of IGFBPs in diabetes and diabetes-associated CVD. We will use plasma proteomics and genomics (eg: eQTL data) to identify associations of different IGFBPs with risk factors for diabetes (eg: BMI, HbA1c levels, etc.). We will look to validate previous data identifying IGFBPs as biomarkers of diabetes incidence and circulatory system disorders. We will investigate whether levels of IGFBPs in the plasma proteome are associated with diabetes status and/or disease severity (type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and duration of diabetes, follow-up diagnosis, etc.). We will also investigate which IGFBPs are associated with CVD risk factors (such as plasma lipid levels, hypertension, etc.), circulatory disease and CVD-related mortality rates. Furthermore, we will assess plasma IGFBP levels and their association with vascular health (e.g pulse wave velocity and carotid artery intima-medial thickness). We will compare these measures in people with and without diabetes to determine the effects of diabetes. In addition, we will investigate SNPs and splice variants in IGFBPs and their interacting factors and their possible association with disease, while also exploring the relationship between IGFBP-related interacting factors and compare these measures with disease outcomes and IGFBP levels.
