OBJECTIVE Our aim was to identify the role of the homeostatic chemokines CCL19 and CCL21 and their common receptor CCR7 in atherogenesis and to study the relationships between CCL19, CCL21, and CCR7 gene variants and coronary artery disease in a Chinese Han population. APPROACH AND RESULTS Immunohistochemical analysis of samples with atherosclerosis of various stages showed increased CCL19, C...

OBJECTIVE Thromboxane A2 receptor (TPr) has been reported to trigger vascular inflammation. Nuclear factor κ B (NF-κB) is a known transcription factor. The aims of the present study were to determine the contributions of NF-κB activation to TPr-triggered vascular inflammation and elucidate the mechanism(s) underlying TPr activation of NF-κB. APPROACH AND RESULTS The effects of TPr activators,...

002 drugs against AD [7]. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were able to home on the injured brain and remove Abeta plaques from the hippocampus and to reduce Abeta deposits through the activation of endogenous microglia in an induced AD mouse model [8]. Human umbilical cord-derived MSCs have been shown to improve memory deficits, and reduce Abeta deposition [9]. Moreover, one r...

To verify that apoptosis is one of the possible mechanisms of neonatal vascular remodeling during the transition from fetal to neonatal circulation, we assayed for apoptosis and evaluated the expression of apoptosis-regulatory proteins in umbilical vessel versus ascending aorta, ductus arteriosus (DA) versus adjacent pulmonary artery and aorta, or aorta versus its branching arteries. Twenty-two...

OBJECTIVE Human pregnancy that courses with maternal supraphysiological hypercholesterolemia (MSPH) correlates with atherosclerotic lesions in fetal arteries. It is known that hypercholesterolemia associates with endothelial dysfunction in adults, a phenomenon where nitric oxide (NO) and arginase are involved. However, nothing is reported on potential alterations in the fetoplacental endothelia...