scholarly journals Switching of vascular cells towards atherogenesis, and other factors contributing to atherosclerosis: a systematic review

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ovais Shafi

Abstract Background Onset, development and progression of atherosclerosis are complex multistep processes. Many aspects of atherogenesis are not yet properly known. This study investigates the changes in vasculature that contribute to switching of vascular cells towards atherogenesis, focusing mainly on ageing. Methods Databases including PubMed, MEDLINE and Google Scholar were searched for published articles without any date restrictions, involving atherogenesis, vascular homeostasis, aging, gene expression, signaling pathways, angiogenesis, vascular development, vascular cell differentiation and maintenance, vascular stem cells, endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells. Results Atherogenesis is a complex multistep process that unfolds in a sequence. It is caused by alterations in: epigenetics and genetics, signaling pathways, cell circuitry, genome stability, heterotypic interactions between multiple cell types and pathologic alterations in vascular microenvironment. Such alterations involve pathological changes in: Shh, Wnt, NOTCH signaling pathways, TGF beta, VEGF, FGF, IGF 1, HGF, AKT/PI3K/ mTOR pathways, EGF, FOXO, CREB, PTEN, several apoptotic pathways, ET – 1, NF-κB, TNF alpha, angiopoietin, EGFR, Bcl − 2, NGF, BDNF, neurotrophins, growth factors, several signaling proteins, MAPK, IFN, TFs, NOs, serum cholesterol, LDL, ephrin, its receptor pathway, HoxA5, Klf3, Klf4, BMPs, TGFs and others. This disruption in vascular homeostasis at cellular, genetic and epigenetic level is involved in switching of the vascular cells towards atherogenesis. All these factors working in pathologic manner, contribute to the development and progression of atherosclerosis. Conclusion The development of atherosclerosis involves the switching of gene expression towards pro-atherogenic genes. This happens because of pathologic alterations in vascular homeostasis. When pathologic alterations in epigenetics, genetics, regulatory genes, microenvironment and vascular cell biology accumulate beyond a specific threshold, then the disease begins to express itself phenotypically. The process of biological ageing is one of the most significant factors in this aspect as it is also involved in the decline in homeostasis, maintenance and integrity. The process of atherogenesis unfolds sequentially (step by step) in an interconnected loop of pathologic changes in vascular biology. Such changes are involved in ‘switching’ of vascular cells towards atherosclerosis.

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Zhong ◽  
Xiangcheng Xiao

Abstract Background and Aims The exact molecular mechanisms underlying IgA nephropathy (IgAN) remains incompletely defined. Therefore, it is necessary to further elucidate the mechanism of IgA nephropathy and find novel therapeutic targets. Method Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) was applied to kidney biopsies from 4 IgAN and 1 control subjects to define the transcriptomic landscape at the single-cell resolution. Unsupervised clustering analysis of kidney specimens was used to identify distinct cell clusters. Differentially expressed genes and potential signaling pathways involved in IgAN were also identified. Results Our analysis identified 14 cell subsets in kidney biopsies from IgAN patients, and analyzed changing gene expression in distinct renal cell types. We found increased mesangial expression of several novel genes including MALAT1, GADD45B, SOX4 and EDIL3, which were related to proliferation and matrix accumulation and have not been reported in IgAN previously. The overexpressed genes in tubule cells of IgAN were mainly enriched in inflammatory pathways including TNF signaling, IL-17 signaling and NOD-like receptor signaling. Moreover, the receptor-ligand crosstalk analysis revealed potential interactions between mesangial cells and other cells in IgAN. Specifically, IgAN with overt proteinuria displayed elevated genes participating in several signaling pathways which may be involved in pathogenesis of progression of IgAN. Conclusion The comprehensive analysis of kidney biopsy specimen demonstrated different gene expression profile, potential pathologic ligand-receptor crosstalk, signaling pathways in human IgAN. These results offer new insight into pathogenesis and identify new therapeutic targets for patients with IgA nephropathy.


1998 ◽  
Vol 80 (11) ◽  
pp. 726-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Byzova ◽  
Ramin Rabbani ◽  
Stanley D’Souza ◽  
Edward Plow

IntroductionA defining characteristic of vascular cells is their adhesive status. The predominant cells of the blood vessel, endothelial cells (EC) and smooth muscle cells (SMC), are normally adherent but can be induced to migrate in response to vascular injury and angiogenic stimuli. The circulating blood cells are ordinarily nonadhesive but can rapidly acquire an adhesive phenotype in response to physiologic and pathophysiologic stimuli. As prime examples, platelets become adherent to the subendothelial matrix and to one another during thrombus formation, and leukocytes first adhere to EC and then transmigrate during the inflammatory response. At a molecular level, the adhesive properties of the vascular cells are determined by the adhesion receptors on their cell-surface and the functional state of these receptors. To match the variety of requisite cellular adhesive reactions, the repertoire of adhesion receptors expressed by vascular cells is broad. Multiple representatives of the immunoglobulin-like, the selectin, the cadherin and the integrin families of adhesion receptors are present on and have been implicated in the functions of the vascular cells. The importance of these adhesion receptors in vascular cell function is underscored by the severe pathogenetic consequences of their congenital deficiencies, such as in Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia, LAD (Leucocyte Adhesion deficiency) I and LAD II (1-3).The integrins are the largest and most broadly distributed of the families of cellular adhesion receptors. Of the integrins, αvβ3, originally identified as the vitronectin receptor, is particularly widely distributed. It is expressed at variable density on many types of vascular cells. Obviously, the adhesive properties of a cell are determined by its full repertoire of adhesion receptors. As an example, the adhesion of EC to fibrinogen/fibrin is mediated by no fewer than five receptors. Nevertheless, it is possible to dissect out the contributions of individual adhesion receptors, and αvβ3 has been implicated in many functional responses of vascular cells. This review focusses upon the role of αvβ3 in vascular cell biology. Other contributions of this multifunctional receptor, such as its role in neoplastic growth and invasion and in osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, are beyond the scope of this article and have been reviewed elsewhere (4, 5).


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (15) ◽  
pp. 1781-1785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piergiorgio Percipalle ◽  
Maria Vartiainen

The emerging role of cytoskeletal proteins in the cell nucleus has become a new frontier in cell biology. Actin and actin-binding proteins regulate chromatin and gene expression, but importantly they are beginning to be essential players in genome organization. These actin-based functions contribute to genome stability and integrity while affecting DNA replication and global transcription patterns. This is likely to occur through interactions of actin with nuclear components including nuclear lamina and subnuclear organelles. An exciting future challenge is to understand how these actin-based genome-wide mechanisms may regulate development and differentiation by interfering with the mechanical properties of the cell nucleus and how regulated actin polymerization plays a role in maintaining nuclear architecture. With a special focus on actin, here we summarize how cytoskeletal proteins operate in the nucleus and how they may be important to consolidate nuclear architecture for sustained gene expression or silencing.


Bone ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. S119
Author(s):  
R.D.A.M. Alves⁎ ◽  
M. Koedam ◽  
J. van de Peppel ◽  
M. Eijken ◽  
J.P.T.M. van Leeuwen

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suwei Tang ◽  
Ping Xu ◽  
Shaoqiong Xie ◽  
Wencheng Jiang ◽  
Jiajing Lu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Psoriasis is a relatively common autoimmune inflammatory skin disease with a chronic etiology. The present study was designed to detect novel biomarkers and pathways associated with psoriasis incidence. Methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with psoriasis in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were identified, and their functional roles and interactions were then annotated and evaluated through GO, KEGG, and gene set variation (GSVA) analyses. In addition, the STRING database was leveraged to construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and key hub genes from this network were validated as being relevant through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses of three additional GEO datasets. The CIBERSORT database was additionally used to assess the relationship between these gene expression-related findings and immune cell infiltration. Results: In total 197 psoriasis-related DEGs were identified and found to primarily be associated with the NOD-like receptor, IL-17, and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction signaling pathways. GSVA revealed significant differences between normal and lesional groups (P < 0.05), while PPI network analyses identified CXCL10 as the hub gene with the highest degree value, whereas IRF7, IFIT3, OAS1, GBP1, and ISG15 were promising candidate genes for the therapeutic treatment of psoriasis. ROC analyses confirmed that these 6 hub genes exhibited good diagnostic efficacy (AUC > 70%), and were predicted to be associated with increased sensitivity to 10 drugs (P < 0.01). The CIBERSORT database further predicted that these hub genes were associated with infiltration by 22 different immune cell types. Conclusion: These results offer a robust foundation for future studies of the molecular basis for psoriasis, potentially guiding efforts to treat this common and disruptive disease.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (24) ◽  
pp. eaba0777
Author(s):  
Yaoyi Li ◽  
Yawei Song ◽  
Wei Xu ◽  
Qin Li ◽  
Xinxiu Wang ◽  
...  

R-loops modulate genome stability and regulate gene expression, but the functions and the regulatory mechanisms of R-loops in stem cell biology are still unclear. Here, we profiled R-loops during somatic cell reprogramming and found that dynamic changes in R-loops are essential for reprogramming and occurred before changes in gene expression. Disrupting the homeostasis of R-loops by depleting RNaseH1 or catalytic inactivation of RNaseH1 at D209 (RNaseH1D209N) blocks reprogramming. Sox2, but not any other factor in the Yamanaka cocktail, overcomes the inhibitory effects of RNaseH1 activity loss on reprogramming. Sox2 interacts with the reprogramming barrier factor Ddx5 and inhibits the resolvase activity of Ddx5 on R-loops and thus facilitates reprogramming. Furthermore, reprogramming efficiency can be modulated by dCas9-mediated RNaseH1/RNaseH1D209N targeting the specific R-loop regions. Together, these results show that R-loops play important roles in reprogramming and shed light on the regulatory module of Sox2/Ddx5 on R-loops during reprogramming.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 1620-1641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra M Greiner ◽  
Adria Sales ◽  
Hao Chen ◽  
Sarah A Biela ◽  
Dieter Kaufmann ◽  
...  

The extracellular environment of vascular cells in vivo is complex in its chemical composition, physical properties, and architecture. Consequently, it has been a great challenge to study vascular cell responses in vitro, either to understand their interaction with their native environment or to investigate their interaction with artificial structures such as implant surfaces. New procedures and techniques from materials science to fabricate bio-scaffolds and surfaces have enabled novel studies of vascular cell responses under well-defined, controllable culture conditions. These advancements are paving the way for a deeper understanding of vascular cell biology and materials–cell interaction. Here, we review previous work focusing on the interaction of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and endothelial cells (ECs) with materials having micro- and nanostructured surfaces. We summarize fabrication techniques for surface topographies, materials, geometries, biochemical functionalization, and mechanical properties of such materials. Furthermore, various studies on vascular cell behavior and their biological responses to micro- and nanostructured surfaces are reviewed. Emphasis is given to studies of cell morphology and motility, cell proliferation, the cytoskeleton and cell-matrix adhesions, and signal transduction pathways of vascular cells. We finalize with a short outlook on potential interesting future studies.


Author(s):  
Mingxuan Wu ◽  
Mingyu Xia ◽  
Wenyan Li ◽  
Huawei Li

Genomics studies face specific challenges in the inner ear due to the multiple types and limited amounts of inner ear cells that are arranged in a very delicate structure. However, advances in single-cell sequencing (SCS) technology have made it possible to analyze gene expression variations across different cell types as well as within specific cell groups that were previously considered to be homogeneous. In this review, we summarize recent advances in inner ear research brought about by the use of SCS that have delineated tissue heterogeneity, identified unknown cell subtypes, discovered novel cell markers, and revealed dynamic signaling pathways during development. SCS opens up new avenues for inner ear research, and the potential of the technology is only beginning to be explored.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Gil-Gálvez ◽  
Sandra Jiménez-Gancedo ◽  
Rafael D. Acemel ◽  
Stephanie Bertrand ◽  
Michael Schubert ◽  
...  

AbstractSignaling pathways control a large number of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) during animal development, acting as major tools for body plan formation1. Remarkably, in contrast to the large number of transcription factors present in animal genomes, only a few of these pathways operate during development2. Moreover, most of them are largely conserved along metazoan evolution3. How evolution has generated a vast diversity of animal morphologies with such a limited number of tools is still largely unknown. Here we show that gain of interconnectivity between signaling pathways, and the GRNs they control, may have played a critical contribution to the origin of vertebrates. We perturbed the retinoic acid, Wnt, FGF and Nodal signaling pathways during gastrulation in amphioxus and zebrafish and comparatively examined its effects in gene expression and cis-regulatory elements (CREs). We found that multiple developmental genes gain response to these pathways through novel CREs in the vertebrate lineage. Moreover, in contrast to amphioxus, many of these CREs are highly interconnected and respond to multiple pathways in zebrafish. Furthermore, we found that vertebrate-specific cell types are more enriched in highly interconnected genes than those tissues with more ancestral origin. Thus, the increase of CREs in vertebrates integrating inputs from different signaling pathways probably contributed to gene expression complexity and the formation of new cell types and morphological novelties in this lineage.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Schaum ◽  
Jim Karkanias ◽  
Norma F Neff ◽  
Andrew P. May ◽  
Stephen R. Quake ◽  
...  

The Tabula Muris ConsortiumWe have created a compendium of single cell transcriptome data from the model organism Mus musculus comprising more than 100,000 cells from 20 organs and tissues. These data represent a new resource for cell biology, revealing gene expression in poorly characterized cell populations and allowing for direct and controlled comparison of gene expression in cell types shared between tissues, such as T-lymphocytes and endothelial cells from distinct anatomical locations. Two distinct technical approaches were used for most tissues: one approach, microfluidic droplet-based 3’-end counting, enabled the survey of thousands of cells at relatively low coverage, while the other, FACS-based full length transcript analysis, enabled characterization of cell types with high sensitivity and coverage. The cumulative data provide the foundation for an atlas of transcriptomic cell biology.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document