Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology
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Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. · Oct 2014
Circulating soluble receptor for advanced glycation end product identifies patients with bicuspid aortic valve and associated aortopathies.
A total of 30% to 50% of patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) require surgery for aortic valve replacement (AVR), ascending aortic replacement (AA), or both. To prevent adverse aortic events, they are risk stratified using imperfect criteria based on imaging modalities. As a result, a significant number of dissections occur outside of the parameters suggested by the guidelines. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are associated with valve and vascular remodeling and trigger the release of a soluble receptor (soluble receptor for advanced glycation end product [sRAGE]). This study aims to characterize sRAGE as a diagnostic and risk-stratification tool for patients with BAV referred for surgery. ⋯ These results show that elevated level of circulating sRAGE is associated with the presence of BAV and associated aortopathies, independent of aortic diameter.
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Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. · Oct 2014
Nucleoside diphosphate kinase B regulates angiogenesis through modulation of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor type 2 and endothelial adherens junction proteins.
Nucleoside diphosphate kinase B (NDPKB) participates in the activation of heterotrimeric and monomeric G proteins, which are pivotal mediators in angiogenic signaling. The role of NDPKB in angiogenesis has to date not been defined. Therefore, we analyzed the contribution of NDPKB to angiogenesis and its underlying mechanisms in well-characterized in vivo and in vitro models. ⋯ This is the first report to show that NDPKB is required for VEGF-induced angiogenesis and contributes to the correct localization of VEGF receptor type 2 and VE-cadherin at the endothelial adherens junctions. Therefore, our data identify NDPKB as a novel molecular target to modulate VEGF-dependent angiogenesis.