About the Authors

Saskia C. A. de Jager

Contributed equally to this work with: Saskia C. A. de Jager, Brenda W. C. Bongaerts

Affiliation Division of Biopharmaceutics, Leiden Amsterdam Centre for Drug Research, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

Brenda W. C. Bongaerts

Contributed equally to this work with: Saskia C. A. de Jager, Brenda W. C. Bongaerts

Brenda.Bongaerts@mumc.nl

Affiliation Department of Pathology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Michael Weber

Affiliation Department of Cardiology, Kerckhoff Heart Centre, Bad Nauheim, Germany

Adriaan O. Kraaijeveld

Affiliation Department of Cardiology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands

Mat Rousch

Affiliation Department of Pathology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Stefanie Dimmeler

Affiliation Institute for Cardiovascular Regeneration, Centre of Molecular Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Marja P. van Dieijen-Visser

Affiliation Department of Clinical Chemistry, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Kitty B. J. M. Cleutjens

Affiliation Department of Pathology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Patty J. Nelemans

Affiliation Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Theo J. C. van Berkel

Affiliation Division of Biopharmaceutics, Leiden Amsterdam Centre for Drug Research, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

Erik A. L. Biessen

Affiliation Department of Pathology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Competing Interests

SD is founder and advisor of t2cure GmbH. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: EB MW SD TvB. Performed the experiments: MR SdJ. Analyzed the data: BB. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MvD MW. Wrote the paper: BB SdJ. Reviewed and edited the manuscript: AK BB EB KC MvD MR MW PN SD SdJ TvB. Contributed to data analyses: PN. Contributed to discussion: AK BB EB PN SdJ TvB.