MHI Seminar Series presents Luisa Iruela-Arispe, Ph.D., Professor & Chair, Cell & Developmental Biology Department, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL

Summary of Seminar:  Much of what Dr. Iruela-Arispe’s Lab knows about endothelial cell proliferation comes from studies of angiogenesis — the formation of new blood vessels. Far less is understood about how endothelial cells divide within vessels that are already established. A long-standing assumption in the field has been that arterial endothelial cells are post-mitotic and that any replenishment within arteries arises from the migration of venous cells. However, their previous work has overturned this view, demonstrating that arterial endothelial cells retain the capacity to proliferate. This finding raises important new questions: Under what physiological or pathological contexts do arterial cells divide? What molecular and mechanical cues regulate this process? And in the uniquely demanding environment of the arterial wall — where cells experience continuous shear stress and pulsatile forces — what strategies do endothelial cells employ to complete division with precision and structural integrity? In this talk, Dr. Iruela-Arispe will address these questions and discuss the cellular and molecular mechanisms that enable endothelial cells to proliferate and maintain vascular integrity under mechanical stress.