Department of Cardiology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212001, China.
Department of Cardiology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212001, China.
Biochem Pharmacol. 2023 Jul;213:115579. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2023.115579. Epub 2023 Apr 30.
With the continuous progress of atherosclerosis research, the significant pathological change of it--vascular calcification (VC), gains increasing attention. In recent years, numerous studies have demonstrated that it is an independent predictor of death risk of cardiovascular disease, and it has a strong correlation with poor clinical prognosis. As the world's population continues to age, the occurrence of VC is expected to reach its highest point in the near future. Therefore, it is essential to investigate ways to prevent or even reverse this process for clinical purposes. Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) describes the progressive differentiation of endothelial cells into mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) under various stimuli and acquisition of pluripotent cell characteristics. More and more studies show that EndMT plays a vital role in various cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, vascular calcification and heart valvular disease. EndMT is also involved in the formation and progression of VC. This review vividly describes the history, characteristics of EndMT and how it affects the endothelial cell process, then focuses on the relationship between vascular endothelium, EndMT, amino acid metabolism, and vascular calcification. Finally, it overviews the signal pathway of EndMT and drugs targeting EndMT, hoping to provide new ideas and a theoretical basis for studying potential therapeutic targets of VC.
随着动脉粥样硬化研究的不断进展，其显著的病理学变化——血管钙化（VC），引起了越来越多的关注。近年来，大量研究表明，它是心血管疾病死亡风险的独立预测因子，与不良临床预后有很强的相关性。随着世界人口的持续老龄化，预计 VC 的发生在不久的将来将达到最高点。因此，有必要研究预防甚至逆转这一过程的方法，以满足临床需求。内皮细胞向间充质细胞转化（EndMT）描述了在各种刺激下，内皮细胞逐渐分化为间充质干细胞（MSCs）并获得多能细胞特征的过程。越来越多的研究表明，EndMT 在各种心血管疾病中起着至关重要的作用，包括动脉粥样硬化、血管钙化和心脏瓣膜病。EndMT 也参与了 VC 的形成和进展。本文生动地描述了 EndMT 的历史、特征以及它如何影响内皮细胞过程，然后重点介绍了血管内皮、EndMT、氨基酸代谢和血管钙化之间的关系。最后，本文综述了 EndMT 的信号通路和针对 EndMT 的药物，希望为研究 VC 的潜在治疗靶点提供新的思路和理论基础。
