Seminario en el INIMEC

Este jueves el seminario está a cargo de la Dra. Victoria Pisano. Abajo encontraran título y resumen. Los esperamos a las 13, en Friuli 2434.

Title: Slug as a Vascular Remodeling Mediator: Unraveling Pulmonary Hypertension Pathology 

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a multifactorial disorder characterized by increased pulmonary vascular resistance, vasoconstriction and vascular remodeling (VR), an angiogenic-related process that consist in the intimal hyperplasia of arteries and arterioles secondary to inflammation, shear stress and/or hypoxia. During VR, smooth muscle cells (SMC) undergo dedifferentiation, characterized by a proliferative and migratory state, contributing to the neointima hyperplasia observed in this condition. Previous studies of our lab have shown that the member of the Snail family of zinc-finger transcription factors, Slug (Snai2), is involved in the development of PH-associated VR by inducing a SMC proliferative phenotype. In this project, we expected to unravel the specific compromise of Slug in the progress of PH-associated VR pathology by using a genetically modified Slug knock out (KO) mice, in order to study a complex phenomenon with an integrative perspective. We hypothesize that the loss of this factor could prevent or delay the VR-related intima enlargement, and thus ameliorate PH. In this seminar we are going to discuss some of the preliminary results of this project and also the limitations of this particular KO model and about other intrinsic limitations that emerge from the way we think scientific practices, from a critical point of view.