Seminars

Abstract:

Atherosclerosis is the major underlying cause of myocardial infarction and stroke, and occurs preferentially in arterial regions exposed to disturbed flow (d-flow) by mechanisms involving broad changes in expression of coding and non-coding genes including microRNAs. We have shown the roles of flow-sensitive genes and microRNAs in endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. Our results showed that targeting mechanosensitive "athero-miRs" with anti-miR-based approaches may provide a new treatment paradigm in atherosclerosis. We also showed that these anti-miRs can be delivered to inflamed endothelium in vivo by using the VCAM1-targeting nanoparticles to treat atherosclerosis in mouse models. I will discuss the roles of novel flow-sensitive genes in atherosclerosis and our effort to develop novel therapeutics targeting them.

Presenter Information