Output details

Increased endothelial mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 expression suppresses proinflammatory activation at sites that are resistant to atherosclerosis

This is the first study to show that blood flow increases MKP-1, which then reduces inflammatory genes. It has stimulated follow-up studies by others to show that inhibiting JNK (a pro-inflammatory molecule negatively regulated by MKP-1) by a small molecule reduces atherosclerosis (Juurlink, Atherosclerosis 2012), and also led to further studies from our group showing that dexamethasone – a drug often used in the clinic – mimics signaling effects of high haemodynamic wall shear stress, thus offering a new way to protect the vessel wall in transplant medicine (Zakar et.al. FEBS, 2011).