Flow Induced Endothelial Planar Polarity for Signaling Regulation

About this Seminar

Blood flow forces are important regulators of endothelial cell signaling and vascular resilience. While laminar blood flow is known to promote endothelial cell resilience, the specific signaling mechanisms that connect flow to vascular protection have remained elusive. Researchers recently discovered that laminar blood flow sustains polarized mechanosensitive signaling domains in arterial endothelial cells to promote vasodilation and protect against inflammation. These subcellular domains facilitate focal Ca2+ entry via TRPV4 channels to activate endothelial nitric oxide synthase, while blocking domain activity results in inflammation. Intriguingly, only a fraction of endothelial cells in the monolayer exhibit this signaling feature: some cells signal and others are silent. Cells with this signaling feature are associated with enhanced cell body elongation and Caveolin-1 rich signaling domains that endow a unique transcriptional signature. These results highlight the role of laminar blood flow in suppressing vascular inflammation though the spatial organization of signal transduction achieved by cell body elongation and cell asymmetry.

Additional Details

This is a free event hosted by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and co-sponsored by the institute's Center for Vascular and Heart Research. The Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series, which runs annually from September to May, has featured leading biomedical researchers from throughout the country since the program began in 2012. The lectures are also open to all members of the Virginia Tech community including graduate students, undergraduates, faculty, and staff, as well as the public.

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