Endothelial Cell News 2.18 May 29, 2017 | |
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TOP STORYWeill Cornell Medicine Team Creates Self-Renewing Hematopoietic Stem Cells for Transplantation Researchers have discovered an innovative method to make an unlimited supply of healthy blood cells from the readily available cells that line blood vessels. This achievement marks the first time that any research group has generated such blood-forming stem cells. [Press release from Weill Cornell Medicine discussing online prepublication in Nature] Press Release | Abstract | Editorial | |
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PUBLICATIONS(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)Inactivating mutations in the thyroid hormone (TH) transporter monocarboxylate transporter 8 (MCT8) cause severe psychomotor retardation in children. Using patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), scientists generated MCT8-deficient neural cells that showed normal TH-dependent neuronal properties and maturation. To test potential blood-brain barrier (BBB) involvement, they generated an iPSC-based BBB model of MCT8 deficiency, and they found that MCT8 was necessary for polarized influx of the active form of TH across the BBB. [Cell Stem Cell] Abstract | Press Release | Graphical Abstract The authors showed that during zebrafish embryonic development increases in flow, after an initial expansion of blood vessel diameters, eventually lead to vessel contraction. This was mediated via endothelial cell shape changes. They identified the transforming growth factor beta co-receptor endoglin as an important player in this process. [Nat Cell Biol] Abstract | Press Release Loss-of-function (LOF) mutations in the endothelial cell (EC)-enriched gene endoglin (ENG) cause the human disease hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia-1, characterized by vascular malformations promoted by vascular endothelial growth factor A. Mosaic ENG deletion in the postnatal mouse rendered Eng LOF ECs insensitive to flow-mediated venous to arterial migration. [Nat Cell Biol] Abstract | Press Release Plastic Roles of Pericytes in the Blood–Retinal Barrier Scientists showed that platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-B/PDGF receptor beta signaling is critical in formation and maturation of blood–retinal barrier (BRB) through active recruitment of pericytes onto growing retinal vessels. Impaired pericyte recruitment to the vessels shows multiple vascular hallmarks of diabetic retinopathy due to BRB disruption. [Nat Commun] Full Article Hif-1α Regulates Macrophage-Endothelial Interactions during Blood Vessel Development in Zebrafish Macrophages are known to interact with endothelial cells during developmental and pathological angiogenesis but the molecular mechanisms modulating these interactions remain unclear. Researchers show a role for the Hif-1α transcription factor in this cellular communication. [Nat Commun] Full Article While blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction exists in neurological disorders, including Huntington’s disease (HD), it is not known if brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) themselves are functionally compromised to promote BBB dysfunction. Researchers undertook a transcriptome and functional analysis of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived BMECs (iBMECs) from HD patients or unaffected controls. They demonstrated that HD iBMECs have intrinsic abnormalities in angiogenesis and barrier properties, as well as in signaling pathways governing these processes. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Press Release | Graphical Abstract The authors studied the vasa vasorum harbor progenitor cells within the adventitia of human aorta. Pericytes, endothelial progenitor cells, and other cell subpopulations were detected among freshly isolated adventitial cells using flow cytometry. Purified cultured pericytes were enriched for the mesenchymal stromal cell markers CD105 and CD73 and depleted of the endothelial markers von Willebrand factor and CD31. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article Intravascular leukocyte recruitment in most vertebrate tissues is restricted to postcapillary and collecting venules, whereas capillaries and arterioles usually support little or no leukocyte adhesion. This segmental restriction is thought to be mediated by endothelial, rather than hemodynamic, differences. Scientists hypothesized that the atypical chemokine receptor duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC/ACKR1) may distinguish venular endothelial cells (ECs) versus non-venular-ECs in mice. [BMC Biol] Full Article A miRNA-101-3p/Bim Axis as a Determinant of Serum Deprivation-Induced Endothelial Cell Apoptosis Serum deprivation or withdrawal induces apoptosis in endothelial cells, resulting in endothelial cell dysfunction that is associated with cardiovascular disease. Researchers found that serum deprivation increased caspase-dependent apoptosis through miRNA-101-3p downregulation, without altering expression of its host gene RNA 3′-terminal phosphate cyclase-like 1, which was highly correlated with suppressed expression levels of dicer and argonaute 2, indicating that miR-101-3p is post-transcriptionally elevated in serum-deprived conditions. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article Apoptosis of pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) was considered to be closely related to the pathogenesis of acute lung injury. Scientists aimed to investigate whether interleukin 22 plays protective roles in lung injury through inhibiting the apoptosis of PMVECs. [Sci Rep] Full Article | |
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REVIEWSVascular Heterogeneity and Specialization in Development and Disease Recent insights from genetic animal models illuminate how endothelial cells interact with each other and with their tissue environment, providing paradigms for vessel type- and organ-specific endothelial differentiation. Delineating these governing principles will be crucial for understanding how tissues develop and maintain, and how their function becomes abnormal in disease. [Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol] Abstract Researchers challenge the current view that pericytes can differentiate into other cells and reopen questions about their plasticity. This emerging knowledge is important not only for the understanding of development but may inform treatments for diseases. [Stem Cells Dev] Abstract Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the endothelial cell research field. | |
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INDUSTRY NEWSDr. Ming-Hui Zou, director of the Center for Molecular & Translational Medicine and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Molecular Medicine, has renewed a four-year, $2.3 million federal grant to study the role of an enzyme in causing diabetic vascular diseases and the molecular mechanism that leads to these diseases. [Georgia State University] Press Release Iowa State Veterinary Medicine Student Named Howard Hughes Medical Research Fellow A third-year student in Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine has received a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Medical Research Fellowship. She will study endothelial cells — cells that line the insides of blood vessels — to see how they respond to septicemia, which occurs when bacteria enters the blood stream. [Iowa State University] Press Release | |
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POLICY NEWSNIH Scales Back Plan to Curb Support for Big Labs after Hearing Concerns Faced with a barrage of criticism, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has scaled back a plan to cap its support for individual labs in order to free up funds for more scientists. The changes did not appease scientists who gave NIH a tongue-lashing at a meeting of NIH’s Council of Councils. [ScienceInsider] Editorial House Science Panel Joins Trump in Questioning Research Overhead Payments A hearing on how the U.S. government defrays the cost of doing federally funded research on college campuses might put most people to sleep. But when budgets are tight, the billions of dollars being spent each year on so-called overhead become an irresistible target for lawmakers. [ScienceInsider] Editorial
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EVENTSNEW AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.
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JOB OPPORTUNITIESNEW Postdoctoral Researcher – Tumor Endothelial Analysis (University of Oxford) NEW Postdoctoral Researcher – Cardiopulmonary Molecular Biology (Hannover Medical School) NEW Postdoctoral Fellows – Skeletal and Cardiac Muscle Disease Modeling (Duke University) Postdoctoral Researcher – Cardiovascular Research (Karolinska Institutet) Postdoctoral Positions – Angiogenesis and Vascular Metabolism (VIB) PhD Positions – Angiogenesis and Vascular Metabolism (VIB) 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) 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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