MHI Seminar Series presents Rong Wang, PhD, the Mildred V. Strouss Endowed Chair in Vascular Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco

MHI Seminar Series presents Rong Wang, Ph.D., Professor, Surgery, Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery; Mildred V. Strouss Endowed Chair in Vascular Surgery; Director, Laboratory for Accelerated Vascular Research, University of California, San Francisco

Summary of Seminar:  Proper Arterial Venous (AV) fate specification is essential for normal vascular function. Notch signaling is a master regulator of AV specification, though its role in vascular physiology is largely unknown. Gain- or loss- of-function Notch mutations in endothelial cells lead to arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), characterized by shunts directly from arteries to veins, displacing capillaries. To uncover how Notch regulates vascular pathophysiology, we use innovative live two-photon microscopy in 5D (4D plus blood velocity), and we show that Notch gain of function mutant initiates AV shunts from enlargement of capillaries, without increasing neither endothelial number nor proliferation, but with decreased arterial tone during AVM initiation. Thus, we propose a novel concept that the mutant Notch decreases vascular tone through thereby permitting AVM initiation. Our finding may open further investigations to elucidate mechanisms underlying Notch regulation of vascular tone.

UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Pagano Conference Room (LCCC 00-002)
450 West Dr.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
United States
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