Cardiac-Referenced Leukocyte Telomere Length and Outcomes After Cardiovascular Surgery.

Leukocyte telomere shortening reflects stress burdens and has been associated with cardiac events. However, the patient-specific clinical value of telomere assessment remains unknown. Moreover, telomere shortening cannot be inferred from a single telomere length assessment.

Fibroblast growth factor 9 delivery during angiogenesis produces durable, vasoresponsive microvessels wrapped by smooth muscle cells.

The therapeutic potential of angiogenic growth factors has not been realized. This may be because formation of endothelial sprouts is not followed by their muscularization into vasoreactive arteries. Using microarray expression analysis, we discovered that fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9) was highly upregulated as human vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) assemble into layered cords.

SIRT1 markedly extends replicative lifespan if the NAD+ salvage pathway is enhanced.

Sir2 mediates lifespan extension in lower eukaryotes but whether its mammalian homolog, sirtuin 1, silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog (SIRT1), is a longevity protein is controversial. We stably introduced the SIRT1 gene into human vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and observed minimal extension of replicative lifespan. However, SIRT1 activity was found to be exquisitely dependent on nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (Nampt) activity.