Previously, our laboratory identified ECE-1, encoding endothelin-converting enzyme-1 (ECE-1), as a positional candidate for a pleiotropic quantitative trait locus affecting femoral size, shape, and biomechanical performance. We hypothesized that endothelin-1 (ET-1) signaling promotes osteogenesis. Exposure of immortalized mouse osteoblast (TMOb) cells to big ET-1 increased mineralization. Follo...

We attempted to highlight progress in microparticle research and bring some clarity to a rapidly changing field that is still defining three major categories of extracellular vesicles: exosomes (smaller), microvesicles, and microparticles (larger). We thank Burger et al1 for pointing out the difficulties in describing what is present and what is active in a given system. The majority of microve...

The activation of endothelial cells is essential to repair damage caused by atherosclerosis via endothelial cell proliferation and migration. Overexpression of VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and the downstream gene, B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) could result in apoptosis-resistant endothelial cells, which are responsible for aggravated hyperplasia and instable plaques generation. Previou...

Adhesion molecules expressed by activated endothelial cells play a key role in regulating leukocyte trafficking to sites of inflammation. Resting endothelial cells normally do not express adhesion molecules, but cytokines activate endothelial cells to express adhesion molecules such as vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), which mediate leukocyte adherence to endothelial cells. We now sho...

The delicate balance of disease management versus off-target effects of treatment continues to be a vital concern to both patients and physicians. This article offers a brief overview of heart failure in diabetes and comments on the recent outcome trials of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, with a closer look at a few pathobiological concerns. The importance of safe antidiabetic treatm...

AIMS Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are capable of proliferating and differentiating into mature endothelial cells, and they have been considered as potential candidates for coronary heart disease therapy. However, the transition of EPCs to mesenchymal cells is not fully understood. This study aimed to explore the role of microRNA 126 (miR-126) in the endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition ...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in cancer development and progression. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) frequently undergoes metastasis and has a high mortality rate. The current study measured miRNA‑126 (miR‑126) expression levels in 128 pairs of clear cell RCC and adjacent normal kidney tissue samples by reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and analyzed the association betw...

Lineage specification is thought to be largely regulated at the level of transcription, where lineage-specific transcription factors drive specific cell fates. MicroRNAs (miR), vital to many cell functions, act posttranscriptionally to decrease the expression of target mRNAs. MLL-AF4 acute lymphocytic leukemia exhibits both myeloid and B-cell surface markers, suggesting that the transformed cel...

Morphology and changes in gene expression of vascular endothelium are mainly due to shear stress and inflammation. Cell phenotype modulation has been clearly demonstrated to be controlled by small noncoding micro-RNAs (miRNAs). This study focused on the effect of laminar shear stress (LSS) on human endothelial cells (HUVECs), with an emphasis on the role of miRNA-126 (miR-126). Exposure of HUVE...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are noncoding RNA molecules that either inhibit translational processing or mediate degradation of target mRNAs in various physiological and pathophysiological processes (1 ). miRNAs have been detected in several body fluids, such as blood plasma, and have emerged as potentially suitable biomarkers for various diseases, including cancer and myocardial infarction (2 ). Heparin...