Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology
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Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. · Dec 2013
Crucial role of ROCK2 in vascular smooth muscle cells for hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension in mice.
Rho/Rho-kinase (ROCK) pathway in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Rho-kinase has 2 isoforms, ROCK1 and ROCK2, with different functions in different cells; ROCK1 for circulating inflammatory cells and ROCK2 for the vasculature. In the present study, we aimed to examine whether ROCK2 in VSMC is involved in the pathogenesis of PAH. ⋯ ROCK2 in VSMC contributes to the pathogenesis of PAH.
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Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. · Dec 2013
Soluble JAGGED1 inhibits pulmonary hypertension by attenuating notch signaling.
Notch signaling has been implicated in the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PH) as reflected by increased expression of Notch member proteins that induce the proliferation of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). Soluble Jagged1 (sJag1) has been shown to inhibit Notch signaling in vitro and in vivo; however, its capacity to suppress PH remains unknown. ⋯ Our results demonstrated that the potential therapeutic use of the sJag1 may not only inhibit the proliferation of PASMCs but also restore the PH-PASMCs phenotype from the dedifferentiated to the differentiated state through interference with Notch-Herp2 signaling.