March 31, 2016 
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In This Issue
Meetings

Travel Awards available for NAVBO members

Vasculata 2016
Uppsala University
and
University of Pennsylvania
August 15-18
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Look inside the IVBM Virtual Conference Bag

Lymphatic Conference
in Chicago, IL
June 8-11, 2017


Vascular Biology 2017
Monterey, CA
October 15-19 
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Last Day to Apply for NAVBO Council
If you are interested in getting more involved with NAVBO, consider running for election to the NAVBO Council. Every year, two Councilor openings occur, and we are seeking nominations to fill them.  Application forms are due today - March 31.  So if you are interested, act now!   Complete an application form
News You Can Use
Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology
The annual Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology is an international award which honors young scientists for their outstanding contributions to neurobiological research based on methods of molecular and cell biology. The winner and finalists are selected by a committee of independent scientists, chaired by Science's Senior Editor, Dr. Peter Stern. Researchers who are not older than 35 years are invited to apply.

You could be next to win this prize and to receive:
  • Prize money of US$25,000
  • Publication in Science of an essay by the winner about his/her research
  • Full support to attend the Prize Ceremony held in conjunction with the  Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in the USA
  • An invitation to visit Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany
  • Up to three finalists are honored, too!
     
More information at: https://www.eppendorf.com/prize
Application Deadline: June 15, 2016
Lab of the Month
The Lab of Dr. David Dichek
This month we are highlighting the lab of Dr. David A. Dichek of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Find out more about Dr. Dichek's lab at http://www.navbo.org/membership/members-labs/492-lab032016.
View all featured laboratories at navbo.org/membership/members-labs.
Member News
Newest Publications Alert Editor
First of all a big Thank You for those who expressed interest in becoming an Editor for the NAVBO Vascular Biology Publications Alert. We are happy to welcome Somanath Shenoy, an Associate Professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Georgia.  He will be joining the team led by Senior Editor Jeff Lee of the National Taiwan University. 

Welcome our newest member
Youyang Zhao, University of Illinois at Chicago

If you have news to share with your colleagues, send it to membership@navbo.org.
Product Showcase
Hypertension in Pregnancy
publishes data pertaining to human and animal hypertension during gestation. Topics covered in the journal include physiology of circulatory control, pathophysiology, methodology, therapy or any other material relevant to the relationship between elevated blood pressure and pregnancy. Learn more about the journal and enjoy complimentary access to editor's choice articles from the most recently published issue on the journal's website: www.tandfonline.com/IHIP.  
Spotlight on Trainees (from the March 17 issue)
Post-doctoral collectives: pathways to a more fruitful experience?
No two post-doctoral experiences are the same, running the gamut of rearview mirror descriptions from "...the best time of my working life..." to an angst-filled "...three years to lay the golden egg." Traditionally relying principally on one's advisor, labmates, and collaborators for support (both material and psychological), post-docs now have dedicated professional organizations in their corners. These include the National Postdoctoral Association and several unions, the first of which ( UAW5810 ) was chartered within the University of California system in 2008. These organizations focus on improving compensation, health care options, benefits, and overall working conditions for post-doctoral workers. As with all matters subject to the ebb and flow of research funding, some question the sustainability of solutions offered through unionization. What say you?
 Recent Publications by NAVBO Members

MicroRNA-181b Improves Glucose Homeostasis and Insulin Sensitivity by Regulating Endothelial Function in White Adipose Tissue
Circulation Research
The pathogenesis of insulin resistance involves dysregulated gene expression and function in multiple cell types, including endothelial cells (ECs). Post-transcriptional mechanisms such as microRNA-mediated regulation of gene expression could affect insulin action by modulating EC function.  Read more

Eotaxin-Rich Proangiogenic Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells and CCR3+ Endothelium in the Atopic Asthmatic Response
Journal of Immunology
Angiogenesis is closely linked to and precedes eosinophilic infiltration in asthma. Eosinophils are recruited into the airway by chemoattractant eotaxins, which are expressed by endothelial cells, smooth muscles cells, epithelial cells, and hematopoietic cells.  Read more

Selective Targeting of a Novel Epsin-VEGFR2 Interaction Promotes VEGF-Mediated Angiogenesis
Circulation Research
We previously reported that VEGF-induced binding of VEGFR2 to epsins 1 and 2 triggers VEGFR2 degradation and attenuates VEGF signaling. The epsin ubiquitin interacting motif (UIM) was shown to be required for the interaction with VEGFR2, however the molecular determinants that govern how epsin specifically interacts with and regulates VEGFR2 were unknown.  Read more

Hypertension: The Missing WNKs
American Journal of Physiology - Renal Physiology
The With no Lysine [K] (WNK) family of enzymes are central in regulation of blood pressure. WNKs have been implicated in hereditary hypertension disorders, mainly through control of the activity and levels of ion cotransporters and channels. Actions of WNKs in the kidney have been heavily investigated, and recent studies have provided insight not only into the regulation of these enzymes but also how mutations in WNKs and their interacting partners contribute to hypertensive disorders.  Read more

Temporal modulation of collective cell behavior controls vascular network topology
Elife
Vascular network density determines the amount of oxygen and nutrients delivered to host tissues, but how the vast diversity of densities is generated is unknown. Reiterations of endothelial-tip-cell selection, sprout extension and anastomosis are the basis for vascular network generation, a process governed by the VEGF/Notch feedback loop.  Read more

Tau pathology-dependent remodelling of cerebral arteries precedes Alzheimer's disease-related microvascular cerebral amyloid angiopathy
Acta Neuropathologica
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterised by pathologic cerebrovascular remodelling. Whether this occurs already before disease onset, as may be indicated by early Braak tau-related cerebral hypoperfusion and blood-brain barrier (BBB) impairment found in previous studies, remains unknown.  Read more

Relaxin-2 and Soluble Flt1 Levels in Peripartum Cardiomyopathy: Results of the Multicenter IPAC Study
Journal of American College of Cardiology Heart Failure
OBJECTIVES: This study explored the association of vascular hormones with myocardial recovery and clinical outcomes in peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM). BACKGROUND: PPCM is an uncommon disorder with unknown etiology. Angiogenic imbalance may contribute to its pathophysiology.  Read more

A branched-chain amino acid metabolite drives vascular fatty acid transport and causes insulin resistance
Nature Medicine
Epidemiological and experimental data implicate branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) in the development of insulin resistance, but the mechanisms that underlie this link remain unclear. Insulin resistance in skeletal muscle stems from the excess accumulation of lipid species, a process that requires blood-borne lipids to initially traverse the blood vessel wall. How this trans-endothelial transport occurs and how it is regulated are not well understood.  Read more

Job Postings
Job Title
Company
Location
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY
Assistant/Associate/Full Professor (Tenure Track)
University of Maryland - Baltimore
Baltimore, MD
Duke University
Durham, NC
Research Associate
University of Toronto
Toronto, ON
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Oklahoma City, OK
Calendar of Events
Date Event
April 2-6
May 2-3
11th International Symposium on Biomechanics in Vascular Biology and Cardiovascular Disease
May 25-28
ISTH 62nd Annual Scientific and Standardization Committee Meeting
July 17-22 Endothelial Cell Phenotypes in Health and Disease
Sept. 7-10 ISACB - 15th Biennial Meeting
Nov. 13-16
Industry News (from the March 17 issue)
Federal budget includes targeted boost for the NIH
President Obama revealed his eighth and final White House budget on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, outlining plans for spending priorities in fiscal year 2017. In the healthcare realm, the president's budget included few surprises. The budget proposal would give the National Institutes of Health $33.1 billion, a 2.6% increase over 2016. The funding would include $680 million for Vice President Biden's cancer initiative; $100 million more for the Precision Medicine Initiative's 1-million person cohort study; and $45 million in added funds for the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative. Aside from these three targeted programs, all of NIH's 27 institutes and centers except the National Cancer Institute would receive no increase compared to FY2016.

Safety of resorbable vascular scaffolds
The Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) is on par with a traditional everolimus-eluting stent (EES) when it comes to safety (with the exception of a stronger link to target vessel-related myocardial infarction) a meta-analysis of one-year outcomes has found. As reported in The Lancet , recipients of the Absorb BVS and the Xience EES had similar combined rates of mortality, myocardial infarction, and revascularization within 12 months. The authors of the study concluded that "...the aggregate of available evidence supports the safety and effectiveness of BVS at 1 year for treatment of patients with stable coronary artery disease and stabilized acute coronary syndromes."

Vascular growth factors in kidney function
[Bartlett et al. (2016) Annual Review of Physiology] The filtration apparatus of the glomerulus comprises four specialized cell types: fenestrated endothelial cells, podocytes, perivascular mesangial cells, and parietal epithelial cells. A variety of growth factors, notably VEGF, ANGPT, EGF, SEMA3A, TGF-β, and CXCL12, signal in paracrine fashions among these cells to create and maintain filtration barrier function. 

Virally-delivered VEGF-A in microsurgically engineered muscle
[ Moimas et al. (2015) Journal of Tissue Engineering] The authors here report a modification of a published model of tissue engineering, based on an arterio-venous loop encased in a collagen-glycosaminoglycan matrix that serves as an isolated niche for angiogenesis and new tissue formation. A muscular flap harvested from the pectineus muscle was so embedded and transduced by an AAV vector encoding human VEGF-A165. VEGF expression resulted in enhanced tissue formation, with a significant increase in the number of arterioles within the chamber.
 
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