Yen-Chun Ho, Xin Geng, Anna O'Donnell, Jaime Ibarrola, Amaya Fernandez-Celis, Rohan Varshney, Kumar Subramani, Zheila J Azartash-Namin, Jang Kim, Robert Silasi, Jill Wylie-Sears, Zahra Alvandi, Lijuan Chen, Boksik Cha, Hong Chen, Lijun Xia, Bin Zhou, Florea Lupu, Harold M Burkhart, Elena Aikawa, Lorin E Olson, Jasimuddin Ahamed, Natalia López-Andrés, Joyce Bischoff, Katherine E Yutzey, R Sathish Srinivasan
BACKGROUND: Cardiac valve disease is observed in 2.5% of the general population and 10% of the elderly people. Effective pharmacological treatments are currently not available, and patients with severe cardiac valve disease require surgery. PROX1 (prospero-related homeobox transcription factor 1) and FOXC2 (Forkhead box C2 transcription factor) are transcription factors that are required for the development of lymphatic and venous valves. We found that PROX1 and FOXC2 are expressed in a subset of valvular endothelial cells (VECs) that are located on the downstream (fibrosa) side of cardiac valves...
August 9, 2023: Circulation Research