Faculty
Jian-Xiong Chen, MD, FAHA
Professor
Office: G761
Lab: G754
(601) 984-1731 (office)
(601) 984-2136 (lab)
Research interests
- Endothelial Metabolism and angiogenesis
- Microvascular rarefaction and coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) in diastolic heart failure.
- Endothelial oxygen sensor and hypoxic signaling in vascular stiffness and calcification
Current research
The long-term goals of our laboratory research are to understand the pathogenesis and identify the intracellular molecular basis that may contribute to microvascular rarefaction, vascular stiffness and calcification, and diastolic heart failure, then, to develop novel therapies that can prevent or reverse the devastating pathogenesis in hypertension, diabetes, and aging. Specifically, our laboratory research interests are focused on the following areas:
Project 1. The novel regulatory mechanisms of coronary microvascular dysfunction and microvascular rarefaction in the diabetic heart. The prevalence of coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD), defined as a reduced coronary flow reserve (CFR), is increasing at an alarming rate in diabetes and hypertension and ageing. CMD is an underlying pathology of ischemic heart failure and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Although the clinic importance, CMD remains an under-appreciated area, especially in diabetes. So far, there is no guideline based treatments for CMD due to the lack of mechanistic studies. The objectives of our research are to elucidate the novel roles of mitochondrial Sirtuin 3, p53 acetylation, mitochondrial ferroptosis and glucose metabolism in diabetes-induced microvascular rarefaction, insulin resistance and diastolic dysfunction.
Project 2. Endothelial oxygen sensor and hypoxic signaling in vascular stiffness and calcification. Arterial stiffness is the center feature of hypertension and has significant impact upon disease etiology and outcomes. So far, there is no cure for hypertensive arterial stiffness. Emerging evidence indicates that pericyte is a novel target of angiogenesis and vascular remodeling. Pericytes are a subpopulation of mesenchymal stem cells which can differentiate into osteoblasts, vascular smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts. Pericytes promotes fibrosis formation via pericyte-fibroblast transition (PFT). The objectives of our research are to explore the vascular endothelium oxygen sensor prolyl hydroxylase-2 (PHD2) and hypoxic signaling in the regulation of pericyte phenotype, pericyte-fibroblast transition, arterial stiffness and vascular calcification in hypertension and diabetes.