Endothelial Cell News Volume 1.33 | Nov 21 2016

TOP STORY

Inhibition of the Glycolytic Activator PFKFB3 in Endothelium Induces Tumor Vessel Normalization, Impairs Metastasis, and Improves Chemotherapy

Tumor vessel normalization (TVN) is emerging as a therapeutic anti-cancer approach, capable of reducing metastasis while improving delivery and response to chemotherapy, but strategies promoting TVN by targeting tumor endothelial cell metabolism have not been tested. Scientists reported that reduction of endothelial cell (EC) glycolysis by haplodeficiency of the glycolytic activator PFKFB3 in ECs decreased metastasis at least in part by promoting TVN. [Cancer Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Genome-Wide RNAi Screen Reveals ALK1 Mediates LDL Uptake and Transcytosis in Endothelial Cells

To identify the pathways of LDL uptake, scientists performed a genome-wide RNAi screen in endothelial cells and cross-referenced with genome-wide association studies-data sets. [Nat Commun] Full Article

PPARδ Is Required for Exercise to Attenuate Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Endothelial Dysfunction in Diabetic Mice

Investigators evaluated the impact of exercise training on vascular endoplasmic reticulum stress and investigated whether exercise training ameliorates endothelial dysfunction in diabetic mice through stimulating AMP-activated protein kinase-proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPARδ) signaling cascade with the use of diabetic db/db mice and Ppard deficient mice. [Diabetes] Abstract

Revisiting the Expression and Function of Follicle-Stimulation Hormone Receptor in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

FSH-follicle-stimulation hormone receptor (FSHR) signaling was shown to promote human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) angiogenesis and thereafter suggested to have an influential role in pregnancy. Scientists revisited the expression and functionality of FSHR in HUVECs angiogenesis, and were unable to reproduce the FSHR expression in human umbilical cord, HUVECs or immortalized HUVECs. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Skin-on-a-Chip Model Simulating Inflammation, Edema and Drug-Based Treatment

Investigators described the development of ‘skin-on-a-chip’ to mimic the structures and functional responses of the human skin. The proposed model consists of three layers, on which epidermal, dermal and endothelial components originated from human, were cultured. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Enhanced Anticancer Activity of PF-04691502, a Dual PI3K/mTOR Inhibitor, in Combination with VEGF SiRNA against Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Investigators evaluated the combinatory antitumor effect of siRNA targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the PI3K/mTOR dual inhibitor PF-04691502. They analyzed the anticancer effect of siRNA VEGF and PF-04691502 combination on proliferation, colony formation and migration of A549 and H460 lung cancer cells. [Mol Ther Nucleic Acids] Full Article

Cancer Cell CCL5 Mediates Bone Marrow Independent Angiogenesis in Breast Cancer

Researchers identified a subpopulation of chemokine receptor (CCR5) expressing endothelial cells in the breast tumor microenvironment, and described a clinical correlation between vascular expression of CCR5 and invasive tumor grade. [Oncotarget] Full Article

Tanshinone II A Attenuates TNF-α-Induced Expression of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 in Endothelial Progenitor Cells by Blocking Activation of NF-κB

Investigators examined the effects of tanshinone IIA on expression of adhesion molecules in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-induced endothelial progenitor cells. [Cell Physiol Biochem] Full Article

Role of Sphingosine Kinase 1 and S1P Transporter Spns2 in HGF Mediated Lamellipodia Formation in Lung Endothelium

Investigators determined the role of sphingosine kinase (SphK) 1, spinster homolog 2 (Spns2) and SphK/sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P)/S1P receptor in hepatocyte growth factor-induced lamellipodia formation in lung endothelial cells. [J Biol Chem] Full Article

Induction of Autophagy by Salidroside through the AMPK-mTOR Pathway Protects Vascular Endothelial Cells from Oxidative Stress-Induced Apoptosis

Scientists aimed to understand the role of autophagy and its regulatory mechanisms by treating human umbilical vein endothelial cells with salidroside under oxidative stress. [Mol Cell Biochem] Abstract

Vascular Endothelium in Diabetes

Three decades ago a revolutionary idea ascribing to dysfunctional endothelia some manifestations of diabetes was born, the Steno hypothesis. The author briefly outlines the accomplishments made in the past 15 years to buttress this hypothesis. [Am J Physiol Renal Physiol] Abstract

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the endothelial cell research field.

Athenex and Lilly Enter Clinical Collaboration Agreement

Athenex, Inc. announced a new collaboration to conduct a Phase Ib study that will evaluate the safety and tolerability of oraxol, Athenex’s oral form of paclitaxel, in combination with Eli Lilly and Company’s CYRAMZA^® (ramucirumab), a vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 antagonist, in patients with advanced gastric and esophageal cancer. [Athenex, Inc.] Press Release

Amgen and Allergan Submit Biosimilar Biologics License Application for ABP 215 to U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Amgen and Allergan plc. announced the submission of a Biologics License Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for ABP 215, a biosimilar candidate to Avastin^® (bevacizumab). ABP 215 is a biosimilar candidate to bevacizumab, a recombinant immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody that binds to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and inhibits the interaction of VEGF with its receptors, VEGF receptor-1 and VEGF receptor-2, thus inhibiting establishment of new blood vessels necessary for the maintenance and growth of solid tumors. [Amgen Inc.] Press Release

Cautious Welcome for UK’s Vague £2 Billion Research Pledge

UK scientists have welcomed a surprise government promise to invest an extra £2 billion (US$2.5 billion) per year into research and development by 2020 – although details of the pledge will not be made clear for at least another two days. [Nature News] Editorial

Conservatives, Liberals Team Up against Animal Research

“Painful, bizarre, and wasteful experiments.” Buying dogs “just to cut them apart … and kill them.” These statements might sound like the rhetoric used by extreme animal rights groups, but they come from White Coat Waste—a new, unlikely coalition of fiscal conservatives and liberal activists that aims to end federal funding for research involving dogs and other animals by targeting people’s pocketbooks in addition to their heartstrings. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Brazil’s Scientists Battle to Escape 20-Year Funding Freeze

Brazil’s science budget has shrunk by more than 40% in the past three years. But researchers are now trying to escape an even worse crisis: federal science spending could be frozen at its current low level for the next two decades, under a constitutional amendment to cap public spending to only inflation-level rises. [Nature News] Editorial

UK Politicians Demand Brexit Guarantee for EU Scientists

Ever since June’s Brexit referendum, scientists have fretted about the uncertainty caused for non-British EU nationals, who have been left unsure what their employment rights may be in a few years’ time. There are around 31,000 such researchers in the United Kingdom, according to a Royal Society estimate, and they make up about 15% of UK universities’ academic staff. [Nature News] Editorial

NEW AACR Annual Meeting 2017
April 1-5, 2017
Washington, D.C., United States

Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.

NEW Postdoctoral Associate – Neuroscience (University of Pittsburgh)

NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Vascular Cell Signaling (Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center)

Postdoctoral Position – Endothelial Heterogeneity (KULeuven)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Molecular Cardiology (Cleveland Clinic)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Vascular Biology and Genetics (Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School)

Research Associate – Molecular Mechanisms underlying Abnormal Human Placental Vascular Function (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus)

Senior Scientific Researcher – Molecular Oncology (Genentech)

Cell Biologist – Pulmonary Vascular Signaling and Endothelial Cell Biology (University of Maryland)

Postdoctoral Research Associate – Cancer Research (Weill Cornell College of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Positions – Vascular and Immune Modulation in Cancer (VIB)

Research Specialist/Technician – Cardiovascular Diseases (University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Positions – Cell Biology (The Roskamp Institute, Inc.)

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