Circulation research
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Circulation research · Dec 2013
Editorial CommentThrombospondin-1: the good, the bad, and the complicated.
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Circulation research · Sep 2013
Enhanced efferocytosis of apoptotic cardiomyocytes through myeloid-epithelial-reproductive tyrosine kinase links acute inflammation resolution to cardiac repair after infarction.
Efficient clearance of apoptotic cells (efferocytosis) is a prerequisite for inflammation resolution and tissue repair. After myocardial infarction, phagocytes are recruited to the heart and promote clearance of dying cardiomyocytes. The molecular mechanisms of efferocytosis of cardiomyocytes and in the myocardium are unknown. The injured heart provides a unique model to examine relationships between efferocytosis and subsequent inflammation resolution, tissue remodeling, and organ function. ⋯ These data collectively and directly link efferocytosis to wound healing in the heart and identify Mertk as a significant link between acute inflammation resolution and organ function.
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Circulation research · Sep 2013
A receptor-specific function for Notch2 in mediating vascular smooth muscle cell growth arrest through cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1B.
Deregulated vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation contributes to multiple vascular pathologies, and Notch signaling regulates VSMC phenotype. ⋯ We propose a receptor-specific function for Notch2 in regulating Jag-1-induced p27(kip1) expression and growth arrest in VSMCs. During vascular remodeling, colocalization of Notch2 and p27(kip1) to the nonproliferating region supports a model where Notch2 activation may negatively regulate VSMC proliferation to lessen the severity of the lesion. Thus, Notch2 is a potential target for control of VSMC hyperplasia.
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Circulation research · Sep 2013
Ranolazine for congenital and acquired late INa-linked arrhythmias: in silico pharmacological screening.
The antianginal ranolazine blocks the human ether-a-go-go-related gene-based current IKr at therapeutic concentrations and causes QT interval prolongation. Thus, ranolazine is contraindicated for patients with preexisting long-QT and those with repolarization abnormalities. However, with its preferential targeting of late INa (INaL), patients with disease resulting from increased INaL from inherited defects (eg, long-QT syndrome type 3 or disease-induced electric remodeling (eg, ischemic heart failure) might be exactly the ones to benefit most from the presumed antiarrhythmic properties of ranolazine. ⋯ Our model predictions suggest that acute targeting of INaL with ranolazine may be an effective therapeutic strategy in diverse arrhythmia-provoking situations that arise from a common pathway of increased pathological INaL.
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Circulation research · Aug 2013
ReviewCell therapy for heart failure: a comprehensive overview of experimental and clinical studies, current challenges, and future directions.
Despite significant therapeutic advances, the prognosis of patients with heart failure (HF) remains poor, and current therapeutic approaches are palliative in the sense that they do not address the underlying problem of the loss of cardiac tissue. Stem cell-based therapies have the potential to fundamentally transform the treatment of HF by achieving what would have been unthinkable only a few years ago-myocardial regeneration. For the first time since cardiac transplantation, a therapy is being developed to eliminate the underlying cause of HF, not just to achieve damage control. ⋯ Many important issues (eg, mechanism(s) of action of stem cells, long-term engraftment, optimal cell type(s), and dose, route, and frequency of cell administration) remain to be resolved, and no cell therapy has been conclusively shown to be effective. The purpose of this article is to critically review the large body of work performed with respect to the use of stem/progenitor cells in HF, both at the experimental and clinical levels, and to discuss current controversies, unresolved issues, challenges, and future directions. The review focuses specifically on chronic HF; other settings (eg, acute myocardial infarction, refractory angina) are not discussed.