Zhen Yue Jiang
Boston University, MA·Physiology
As we age, our large arteries stiffen. Arterial stiffness is a hallmark of vascular aging and is linked to more cardiovascular disease events and to vascular dementias.
- Fields
Physiology
Microbiology & Immunology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
vascular aging
arterial stiffness
neutrophils
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Feb 2027
What they work on
- Test whether neutrophil elastase (NE) drives vascular leakage, inflammation and fibrosis by activating PAR2 and ENaC signaling in vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells, using cell culture and mouse studies.
- Examine how NE breaks down Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1), a longevity regulator, to switch neutrophils to a pro-inflammatory state and promote age-related vascular injury and remodeling in mice.
- Determine how neutrophils and NE drive inflammatory remodeling of the arterial wall during aging in mice fed a normal or obesity-inducing diet.
- Evaluate whether a selective NE inhibitor protects aging mice against arterial stiffness and related vascular damage, fibrotic remodeling and calcification.
More about the research
Inflammatory damage and remodeling of the extracellular matrix, the protein scaffold around cells, are thought to be major causes. However, the molecular events that start and spread these changes in large blood vessels remain unclear. This project asks whether neutrophils help trigger the process. Neutrophils are the most abundant and shortest-lived white blood cells and play a key role in starting tissue damage and inflammation. The project focuses on neutrophil elastase (NE), an enzyme found only in neutrophils that cuts other proteins.
Why it matters
Arterial stiffness from aging is a hallmark of cardiovascular disease and is linked to vascular dementias. If blocking neutrophil elastase protects aging arteries from leakage, scarring and calcification in mice, NE inhibition could become a therapeutic strategy to slow the development of aging-related cardiovascular diseases and vascular dementias.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Daniel Greif
Yale University, CT·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether brief reprogramming with the OSKM pluripotency factors resets aged smooth muscle cells to a younger epigenetic age while keeping their identity, using SMC-specific DNA methylation clocks in cells and mice.
Dogukan Mizrak
University of Michigan, MI·Medicine & Clinical Research
Define the molecular triggers and downstream effects of CART signaling in human aortic smooth muscle cells in vitro, testing whether it drives wall remodeling and medial calcification, mineral buildup that stiffens the artery.
Addolorata Pisconti
Stony Brook University, NY·Biology
Define how the muscle stem cell niche, including its cells, extracellular matrix and soluble factors, is remodeled after injury in mice lacking each neutrophil serine protease or all three combined.
The school
Boston University: 26 labs on PI Pages, $784M a year on research, 630 research doctorates a year.
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