Endothelial Cell News 2.16 May 8, 2017 | |
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TOP STORYStudy of Blood Vessel Growth May Open New Pathway to Therapies A new study detailing how blood vessels develop could lead to novel treatments of cardiovascular diseases as well as cancer. Normal blood vessel growth is regulated by proteins or hormones known as growth factors. Prior to this study, little was understood about the role of a particular family of growth factors, called FGFs, in vascular development. A research team studied mice genetically engineered to lack FGF signaling in the endothelium, the inner lining of blood vessels. They found that FGFs trigger the expression of a gene involved in many cancers. [Press release from Yale School of Medicine discussing online prepublication in Nature] Press Release | Abstract | |
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PUBLICATIONS(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)Investigators examined the role of vascular CXCR4 in atherosclerosis and plaque composition by inducing an endothelial cell (EC)-specific or smooth muscle cell (SMC)-specific-deficiency of CXCR4 in an apolipoprotein E-deficient mouse model. The cell-specific deletion of CXCR4 in arterial ECs or SMCs markedly increased atherosclerotic lesion formation in hyperlipidemic mice. [Circulation] Abstract | Press Release Angiogenesis was evaluated in vitro using human microvascular endothelial cells-1 and in vivo using the matrigel plug angiogenesis assay in mice. Scientists observed a significant increase of plasma levels of TRX80 in aged subjects compared to healthy young subjects. In parallel, an increase in expression and activity of ADAM-10 and ADAM-17 in aged peripheral blood mononuclear cells compared to young subjects were observed. [Circulation] Abstract Researchers report that the secreted anterior gradient-2 (AGR2) promotes the angiogenesis and the invasion of vascular endothelial cells and fibroblasts by enhancing the activities of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2). Further study indicated that AGR2 directly bound to these extracellular signaling molecules, and enhanced their homodimerization. [Oncogene] Abstract Thrombospondin-4 Mediates TGF-β-Induced Angiogenesis Investigators found that in endothelial cells thrombospondin-4 (TSP-4), a secreted extracellular matrix protein, is upregulated in response to TGF-β1 and mediates the effects of TGF-β1 on angiogenesis. Upregulation of TSP-4 did not require the synthesis of new protein, was not caused by decreased secretion of TSP-4, and was mediated by activation of SMAD3. [Oncogene] Abstract Scientists studied dendritic cell entry into lymphatic capillaries as a model system for transendothelial migration. They found that the chemokine CCL21, which is the decisive guidance cue for intravasation, mainly localizes in the trans-Golgi network and intracellular vesicles of lymphatic endothelial cells. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract The authors investigated the mechanisms of recombinant basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in blood-brain barrier protection by measuring the permeability of cultured endothelial cell monolayer induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation and reoxygenation (OGD/R). They found that recombinant bFGF significantly decreased OGD/R-induced permeability of primary human brain microvascular endothelial cell monolayer and preserved OGD/R-induced decreases of trans-endothelial electrical resistance. [Mol Neurobiol] Abstract Endothelium-specific CYR61-CTGF-NOV (CCN)1 deletion in mice using a cre/lox strategy induced endothelial cell hyperplasia and caused blood vessels to coalesce into large flat hyperplastic sinuses with no distinctive hierarchical organization. This was consistent with the role of CCN1 as a negative feedback regulator of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor activation. [Sci Rep] Full Article The authors sought to clarify the effects of 15-lipoxygenase/15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid in angiogenesis and neurological functional recovery after cerebral ischaemic stroke in mice. In vivo, they performed behavioral tests to determine functional recovery after stroke. In vitro, they investigated the effects of 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid on brain microvascular endothelial cell proliferation and migration. [Sci Rep] Full Article Researchers report a stepwise differentiation protocol suitable for generating human iPSC-derived choroidal endothelial cell (CEC)-like cells. Connective tissue growth factor-driven iPSC-derived CEC-like cells formed capillary tube-like vascular networks, and expressed the endothelial cell-specific markers CD31, ICAM1, PLVAP, vWF, and the CEC-restricted marker CA4. [Stem Cells Transl Med] Abstract | Full Article Investigators sought to determine if bone marrow (BM)-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) induce pulmonary hypertension (PH) and if this is attenuated by mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs). EPCs but not non-EPCs from mice with monocrotaline (MCT)-induced PH increased right ventricular/left ventricle+septum, wall thickness/diameter ratios in healthy mice. MSC-EV infusion reversed increases in BM-EPCs and increased lung tissue expression of EPC genes and their receptors/ligands in MCT-PH mice. [Stem Cells Transl Med] Abstract | Full Article | |
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REVIEWSmiRNAs: Micro-Managers of Anticancer Combination Therapies The authors review the provenance and promise of microRNAs (miRNAs) as targets, as well as therapeutics, to contribute to anti-angiogenesis-based (combination) treatment of cancer. [Angiogenesis] Abstract Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the endothelial cell research field. | |
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INDUSTRY NEWSEinstein Shares in $2.9 Million Grant to Combat Breast Cancer Metastasis Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and three other institutions are sharing a five-year, $2.9 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study how different types of cells influence breast cancer metastasis—the process by which cancer cells spread from the primary tumor to other parts of the body and that causes 90 percent of breast cancer-related deaths. [Albert Einstein College of Medicine] Press Release SightLife Surgical, Inc. announced plans to bring a groundbreaking treatment for the corneal blind to market worldwide. The innovative therapy involves culturing donated human eye endothelial cells and then injecting the cells into the anterior chamber of a patient’s eye, where the injected cells safely restore sight within a month. This novel, regenerative, medical intervention eliminates the need for more invasive corneal transplant surgery for patients with impaired endothelial cell function who suffer from extreme vision loss or distortion. [SightLife Surgical, Inc.] Press Release | |
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POLICY NEWSScientists Relieved by Emmanuel Macron’s French Election Victory French scientists say they’re relieved and happy that their country’s next president will be Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old former civil servant and economy minister who swept to victory in elections. Macron intends to make cuts to public spending, but has said he will ring-fence the budgets for research and higher education, areas that he wants to make the central plank of a program to boost innovation and cut unemployment. [Nature News] Editorial Money Still Missing as the Plan to Synthesize a Human Genome Takes Another Step Forward More than 200 biologists, businesspeople, and ethicists will converge upon the New York Genome Center in Manhattan to jumpstart what they hope will be biology’s next blockbuster: Genome Project-write, a still-unfunded sequel to the Human Genome Project where instead of reading a human genome, scientists create one from scratch and incorporate it into cells for various research and medical purposes. [ScienceInsider] Editorial
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EVENTSNEW Advances in Modeling Cancer in Mice: Technology, Biology, and Beyond Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.
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JOB OPPORTUNITIESNEW Postdoctoral Positions – Angiogenesis and Vascular Metabolism (VIB) NEW PhD Positions – Angiogenesis and Vascular Metabolism (VIB) Postdoctoral Position – Cardiopulmonary Molecular Biology (Hannover Medical School) Research Scientist – Corneal Endothelial Cells (The Veneto Eye Bank Foundation) PhD Fellow – Ophthalmology (KU Leuven) Postdoctoral Fellow – Blood Pressure Regulation (University of Tennessee Health Science Center) Postdoctoral Fellow – Vascular Biology (University Hamburg-Eppendorf) Postdoctoral Research – Endothelial Biology (University of South Florida) Postdoctoral Position – Intersectional Genetics (VIB) Research Assistant Professor – Endothelial and Epithelial Barrier Function (University of Chicago) Recruit Top Talent: Reach potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.
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