High soluble endoglin levels do not induce changes in structural parameters of mouse heart.

A soluble form of endoglin (sEng) released into the circulation was suggested to be a direct inducer of endothelial dysfunction, inflammation and contributed to the development of hypertension by interfering with TGF-β signaling in cardiovascular pathologies. In the present study, we assessed the hypothesis that high sEng level-induced hypertension via a possible sEng interference with TGF-β signaling pathways may result in inflammatory, structural or fibrotic changes in hearts of Sol-Eng+ mice (mice with high levels of soluble endoglin) fed either chow or high-fat diet. Female Sol-Eng+ mice and their age matched littermates with low plasma levels of sEng were fed either chow or high-fat diet (HFD).

Soluble endoglin modulates the pro-inflammatory mediators NF-κB and IL-6 in cultured human endothelial cells.

Aims: Endoglin is a transmembrane glycoprotein, that plays an important role in regulating endothelium. Proteolytic cleavage of membrane endoglin releases soluble endoglin (sEng), whose increased plasma levels have been detected in diseases related to the cardiovascular system. It was proposed that sEng might damage vascular endothelium, but detailed information about the potential mechanisms involved is not available.

High Levels of Soluble Endoglin Induce a Proinflammatory and Oxidative-Stress Phenotype Associated with Preserved NO-Dependent Vasodilatation in Aortas from Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet.

Aims: A soluble form of endoglin (sEng) was proposed to participate in the induction of endothelial dysfunction in small blood vessels. Here, we tested the hypothesis that high levels of sEng combined with a high-fat diet induce endothelial dysfunction in an atherosclerosis-prone aorta.

Methods And Results: Six-month-old female and male transgenic mice overexpressing human sEng (Sol-Eng+) with low (Sol-Eng+low) or high (Sol-Eng+high) levels of plasma sEng were fed a high-fat rodent diet containing 1.

High soluble endoglin levels do not induce endothelial dysfunction in mouse aorta.

Increased levels of a soluble form of endoglin (sEng) circulating in plasma have been detected in various pathological conditions related to cardiovascular system. High concentration of sEng was also proposed to contribute to the development of endothelial dysfunction, but there is no direct evidence to support this hypothesis. Therefore, in the present work we analyzed whether high sEng levels induce endothelial dysfunction in aorta by using transgenic mice with high expression of human sEng.

Endoglin is not expressed with cell adhesion molecules in aorta during atherogenesis in apoE-deficient mice.

Endoglin (TGF-β receptor III), has been demonstrated to affect vascular endothelium and atherosclerosis. Moreover, it was also demonstrated that endoglin is involved in inflammation and plays a role in leukocyte adhesion and transmigration in vitro and in vivo but not in atherosclerosis related vessels. In this study, we wanted to evaluate endoglin expression in two different parts of the aorta (heart aortic sinus and ascending aorta) and assess its potential simultaneous expression with cell adhesion molecules in non-atherosclerotic and atherosclerotic aortas of apoE-deficient mice.

Cell adhesion molecules and eNOS expression in aorta of normocholesterolemic mice with different predispositions to atherosclerosis.

C57BL/6J (B6) mice were demonstrated to be the most susceptible and C3H/HeJ (C3H) mice the most resistant to development of atherosclerosis. We hypothesized, whether pro-atherogenic (P-selectin, VCAM-1, and ICAM-1) and anti-atherogenic (endoglin and eNOS) proteins are expressed differently in aorta before the onset of atherosclerosis in these two mouse strains. B6 mice (n = 16) and C3H mice (n = 16) sustained on either chow or cholesterol (1 %) diet for 8 weeks.