Publications by authors named "Zhi-Wei Mo"

Article Synopsis
  • VEGF-induced angiogenesis is hindered in hypercholesterolemia, but a peptide called D-4F may help improve this condition by reducing HDL's pro-inflammatory effects.
  • In a study, different mouse models were used to assess the impact of D-4F and VEGFA on heart function and angiogenesis after inducing a heart attack.
  • The results indicated that D-4F, when combined with VEGFA, enhanced angiogenesis and improved heart function in hypercholesterolemic mice by activating specific signaling pathways, although it did not have the same effect in another set of genetically modified mice.
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Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a serious vascular disease. Currently, no effective methods are available for treating DFUs. Pro-protein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) regulates lipid levels to promote atherosclerosis.

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Arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO) is characterized by arterial narrowing and blockage due to atherosclerosis, influenced by endothelial dysfunction and inflammation. This research focuses on exploring the role of MAGOH-DT, a long noncoding RNA, in mediating endothelial cell dysfunction through endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) under inflammatory and hyperglycemic stimuli, aiming to uncover potential therapeutic targets for ASO. Differential expression of lncRNAs, including MAGOH-DT, was initially identified in arterial tissues from ASO patients compared to healthy controls through lncRNA microarray analysis.

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Ferroptosis is a novel cell death mechanism that is mediated by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. It may be involved in atherosclerosis development. Products of phospholipid oxidation play a key role in atherosclerosis.

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Article Synopsis
  • * nHDL enhances autophagy and nitric oxide production in endothelial cells, facilitating migration and tube formation, while dHDL has the opposite effect by increasing miR-181a-5p levels, which suppresses these processes.
  • * The autophagy-related protein ATG5 is crucial in this mechanism, with its expression being positively regulated by nHDL and negatively by dHDL, impacting overall angiogenesis in ischemic conditions.
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Article Synopsis
  • Normal high-density lipoprotein (nHDL) promotes angiogenesis in healthy individuals, but dysfunctional HDL (dHDL) from coronary artery disease patients loses this ability.
  • A long non-coding RNA called HDRACA plays a key role in regulating angiogenesis by being downregulated by nHDL through a process involving the degradation of specific transcription factors.
  • In experiments, HDRACA binding to specific proteins inhibited angiogenesis, and introducing HDRACA in a mouse model hindered recovery, highlighting how nHDL's ability to modulate HDRACA is crucial for its angiogenic effects.
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Cardiopulmonary bypass has been speculated to elicit systemic inflammation to initiate acute lung injury (ALI), including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), in patients after cardiac surgery. We previously found that post-operative patients showed an increase in endothelial cell-derived extracellular vesicles (eEVs) with components of coagulation and acute inflammatory responses. However, the mechanism underlying the onset of ALI owing to the release of eEVs after cardiopulmonary bypass, remains unclear.

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Article Synopsis
  • Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) is a key process in atherosclerosis where endothelial cells transform into mesenchymal-like cells, influenced by proinflammatory lipids like POVPC found in atherosclerotic lesions.
  • Treatment with POVPC alters endothelial cell morphology and increases oxidative stress while decreasing nitric oxide production, promoting factors involved in EndMT.
  • Simvastatin can counteract the effects of POVPC by reducing oxidative stress and inhibiting the pathways that lead to EndMT, revealing a potential new mechanism to combat atherosclerosis.
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Normal high-density lipoprotein (nHDL) in normal, healthy subjects is able to promote angiogenesis, but the mechanism remains incompletely understood. HDL from patients with coronary artery disease may undergo a variety of oxidative modifications, rendering it dysfunctional; whether the angiogenic effect is mitigated by such dysfunctional HDL (dHDL) is unknown. We hypothesized that dHDL compromises angiogenesis.

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We previously demonstrated that circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) from patients with valvular heart disease (VHD; vEVs) contain inflammatory components and inhibit endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Neutrophil chemotaxis plays a key role in renal dysfunction, and dexmedetomidine (DEX) can reduce renal dysfunction in cardiac surgery. However, the roles of vEVs in neutrophil chemotaxis and effects of DEX on vEVs are unknown.

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Ischemia postconditioning (PTC) can reduce myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. However, the effectiveness of PTC cardioprotection is reduced or lost in diabetes and the mechanisms are largely unclear. Hyperglycemia can induce overexpression of inducible nitric oxide synthesis (iNOS) in the myocardium of diabetic subjects.

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Endothelial dysfunction is an early stage of atherosclerosis. We recently have shown that 25-hydroxycholesterol found in atherosclerotic lesions could impair endothelial function and vasodilation by uncoupling and inhibiting endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). 1-Palmitoyl-2-(5-oxovaleroyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POVPC), the oxidation product of oxidized low-density lipoprotein, is another proinflammatory lipid and has also been found in atherosclerotic lesions.

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Article Synopsis
  • - New research indicates that normal HDL can become dysfunctional in conditions like coronary artery disease (CAD), impacting how vascular endothelial cells function.
  • - Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important for various biological processes and may play a role in HDL metabolism and its effects on endothelial cells, though this connection isn't fully understood yet.
  • - A study involving human umbilical vein endothelial cells treated with HDL from both healthy individuals and CAD patients showed that these different HDLs lead to unique expressions of lncRNAs and affect vascular function.
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