Journal: Cell Reports Medicine

Article Title: Unraveling AURKB as a potential therapeutic target in pulmonary hypertension using integrated transcriptomic analysis and pre-clinical studies

doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2025.101964

Figure Lengend Snippet: Therapeutic effects of barasertib in male rats exposed to Sugen/hypoxia (A) Study design using the Sugen/hypoxia (Su/Hx) rat model. (B) Pulmonary artery acceleration time (PAAT), right ventricular fractional area change (RVFAC), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), S wave, stroke volume (SV), and cardiac output (CO) determined by echocardiography at the end of the protocol in control, Su/Hx+Veh, and Su/Hx+barasertib male rats ( n = 4–9/group). (C) Effect of AURKB inhibition on right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) and mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP), as assessed by right heart catheterization at the end of the protocol ( n = 4–9/group). (D) Representative images of distal PAs stained with Elastica van Gieson (EVG) and quantification of vascular remodeling in control, Su/Hx+Veh, and Su/Hx+barasertib rats ( n = 4–9/group). (E) Representative images of distal PAs labeled with proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA, proliferative marker, red), p16, or p21 ( n = 4–9/group). PASMCs were labeled with alpha smooth muscle actin (αSMA, green). The quantifications of the percentage of PASMCs positive for PCNA, p16, or p21 are shown. Scale bars, 20 μm. Scatter dot plots show individual values and mean ± SEM. Assessment of the normality of the data was performed using Shapiro-Wilk test. Statistical analyses were performed using one-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis’s test followed by Dunnett’s post hoc test; ∗ p < 0.05; ∗∗ p < 0.01, and ∗∗∗ p < 0.001. See also Figures S8 and .

Article Snippet: Smooth muscle cell basal medium , Cell Applications , Cat# 310-500.

Techniques: Control, Inhibition, Staining, Labeling, Marker

Journal: Cell Reports Medicine

Article Title: Unraveling AURKB as a potential therapeutic target in pulmonary hypertension using integrated transcriptomic analysis and pre-clinical studies

doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2025.101964

Figure Lengend Snippet: Barasertib reduces vascular remodeling in human precision-cut lung slices (A) Experimental setup for precision-cut lung slices (PCLSs) from control, patients with PAH, and patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. (B) Representative images of distal PAs stained with Elastica van Gieson (EVG) or labeled with proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) or p21 in PCLSs prepared from control patients ( n = 5) after exposure or not to a growth factor cocktail (GF, FGF2 + PDGF-BB + ET1) in presence or not to barasertib for 10 days. PASMCs were labeled with alpha smooth muscle actin (αSMA, green). The quantification of vascular remodeling and PASMCs positive for PCNA or p21 is shown. (C) Representative images of distal PAs stained with EVG or labeled with PCNA or p21 in PCLSs from patients with PAH ( n = 6). (D) Representative images of distal PAs stained with EVG or labeled with PCNA or p21 in PCLSs from patients with IPF complicated with pulmonary hypertension (PH) ( n = 2). For each experiment, the quantifications of vascular remodeling and PCNA- or p21-positive PASMCs (average of 40–45 arteries per patient) are shown. Scale bars, 25 μm. Values are represented as means ± SEM. Assessment of the normality of the data was performed using Shapiro-Wilk test. Statistical analyses were performed using repeated measures one-way ANOVA test followed by Dunnett’s post hoc test or paired Student’s t test; ∗ p < 0.05; ∗∗ p < 0.01, and ∗∗∗ p < 0.001.

Article Snippet: Smooth muscle cell basal medium , Cell Applications , Cat# 310-500.

Techniques: Control, Staining, Labeling

Journal: Cell Reports Medicine

Article Title: Unraveling AURKB as a potential therapeutic target in pulmonary hypertension using integrated transcriptomic analysis and pre-clinical studies

doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2025.101964

Figure Lengend Snippet:

Article Snippet: Smooth muscle cell basal medium , Cell Applications , Cat# 310-500.

Techniques: Virus, Plasmid Preparation, Recombinant, Negative Control, Protease Inhibitor, Staining, EdU Assay, TUNEL Assay, Western Blot, SYBR Green Assay, Chromatin Immunoprecipitation, Magnetic Beads, RNA Sequencing Assay, Expressing, Software

Journal: JVS-Vascular Science

Article Title: Comparison between vascular smooth muscle cells isolated from descending thoracic and abdominal aortas of mice in cell function, phenotype features, and gene expression

doi: 10.1016/j.jvssci.2026.100411

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Schematic flowchart of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) isolation from the thoracic and abdominal aortas of mice (figure created with BioRender.com). (B) Representative images of α-smooth muscle actin ( α-SMA ) staining (original magnification ×20) of thoracic aortic smooth muscle cell ( Th-SMC ) and abdominal aortic smooth muscle cell ( Ab-SMC ) at passages 3 and 7, respectively. Green indicates α-SMA, and blue means nuclei. (C) The ratio of α-SMA-positive cells was assessed. There was no significant difference in α-SMA expression between passages in each cell type (n = 4 per condition, two images per well, two wells analyzed). nd , not significant; P , passage.

Article Snippet: Wells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline and cultured in fetal bovine serum-free Smooth Muscle Cell Growth Medium (Basal medium, Cell Applications).

Techniques: Isolation, Staining, Expressing

Journal: JVS-Vascular Science

Article Title: Comparison between vascular smooth muscle cells isolated from descending thoracic and abdominal aortas of mice in cell function, phenotype features, and gene expression

doi: 10.1016/j.jvssci.2026.100411

Figure Lengend Snippet: Cell migration and proliferation were assessed to investigate the cell function between cell types. (A) Representative images of the scratch assay for thoracic aortic smooth muscle cells ( Th-SMCs ) and abdominal aortic smooth muscle cells ( Ab-SMCs ) at 0, 12, 24, and 72 hours. (B) Th-SMCs migrated into the scratched wound area (between the dotted lines ) significantly faster than Ab-SMCs at 24, 48, and 72 hours, as evaluated by the reduced wound region (n = 6 per group). (C) Representative immunofluorescence images of Ki67 ( red ) and 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) ( blue ) staining during the scratch migration assay (0, 12, and 72 hours) under serum-free conditions. Scale bar , 100 μm. (D) Quantification of proliferative activity expressed as the Ki67/DAPI intensity ratio during the migration assay. Ki67/DAPI intensity was minimal and not significantly different between Th-SMCs and Ab-SMCs at any time point, indicating negligible proliferation under serum-free conditions. (E) Representative Ki67 staining images of Th-SMCs and Ab-SMCs under growth conditions at day 0, day 1, and day 4 corresponding with the proliferation assay. (F) Quantification of Ki67/DAPI intensity ratio under growth conditions, demonstrating increased proliferative activity over time and a significant difference between Th-SMCs and Ab-SMCs at day 4. ns , not significant. ∗∗∗ P ≤ .001; ∗∗∗∗ P ≤ .0001.

Article Snippet: Wells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline and cultured in fetal bovine serum-free Smooth Muscle Cell Growth Medium (Basal medium, Cell Applications).

Techniques: Migration, Cell Function Assay, Wound Healing Assay, Immunofluorescence, Staining, Activity Assay, Proliferation Assay

Journal: JVS-Vascular Science

Article Title: Comparison between vascular smooth muscle cells isolated from descending thoracic and abdominal aortas of mice in cell function, phenotype features, and gene expression

doi: 10.1016/j.jvssci.2026.100411

Figure Lengend Snippet: Oxidative stress assay on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and expression of antioxidant markers in the oxidative stressed VSMCs. (A) VSMCs were treated with different concentrations of H 2 O 2 (0-750 μM) for 12 hours, followed by evaluating the cell viability using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. Viability in thoracic aortic smooth muscle cells ( Th-SMCs ) was significantly higher than in abdominal aortic smooth muscle cells ( Ab-SMCs ) at 100 μM and 750 μM H 2 O 2 (n = 4 per group). To evaluate the expression of antioxidant markers in VSMCs treated with hydrogen peroxide ( H 2 O 2 ) at the same concentration used in the oxidative stress assay, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was performed. (B) Nrf2 expression was significantly higher in Th-SMCs than in Ab-SMCs at 100 μM and 750 μM. (C, D) Similarly, Catalase and Sod1 expression were significantly greater in Th-SMCs at each concentration than in Ab-SMCs.

Article Snippet: Wells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline and cultured in fetal bovine serum-free Smooth Muscle Cell Growth Medium (Basal medium, Cell Applications).

Techniques: Expressing, Concentration Assay, Reverse Transcription, Polymerase Chain Reaction

Journal: The journal of vascular access

Article Title: Functions for platelet factor 4 (PF4/CXCL4) and its receptors in fibroblast-myofibroblast transition and fibrotic failure of arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs)

doi: 10.1177/11297298231192386

Figure Lengend Snippet: IF staining of the adventitial layer of human veins that successfully underwent AVF maturation (Success) and veins that ultimately failed to mature (Failed) with αSMA (green) and PF4 (red). Slides from eight human vein tissue samples (four matured and four failed) were stained. Co-localization of PF4 and αSMA in adventitial fibroblasts and pericytes are indicated with white arrows. Each scale bar represents 10 μm. A: Adventitial layer. White dotted line: the boundary of the adventitial layer.

Article Snippet: Minced tissue was placed back in fresh enzyme solution and triturated every 15 min, and an aliquot was collected to look for released single cells over a period of no longer than a total of 1 h. Venous adventitial fibroblasts (refer to hBCV advs hereafter) were collected by centrifugation at 1400 rpm for 5 min and resuspended in fibroblast growth media (human vascular smooth muscle cell basal medium (formerly known as “medium 231”) (M231500, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) supplemented with smooth muscle growth supplement (SMGS, S00725, Thermo Fisher Scientific), 1% P/S, 0.2% gentamicin ( R01510 , Thermo Fisher Scientific), and an extra 15% fetal bovine serum (FBS, SH3007103, Fisher Scientific)).

Techniques: Staining

Journal: The journal of vascular access

Article Title: Functions for platelet factor 4 (PF4/CXCL4) and its receptors in fibroblast-myofibroblast transition and fibrotic failure of arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs)

doi: 10.1177/11297298231192386

Figure Lengend Snippet: Overexpression of PF4 leads to increase of TGFβ activation. Infection of PF4 overexpression lentivirus induces upregulation of ITGB6 and the expression of downstream effectors including COL1A1 , SERPINE1 , and CTGF are all elevated upon treatment of 60 ng/ml LAP-TGFβ1 in fibroblasts that overexpress PF4 . The statistics of qRT-PCR results of ITGB6 , COL1A1 , SERPINE1 , and CTGF are shown in (a–d), respectively. ( n = 4) The representative western blot is shown in (e), while the statistics of the western blot of Col1, PAI-1, and CTGF are shown in (f–i). ( n = 4).

Article Snippet: Minced tissue was placed back in fresh enzyme solution and triturated every 15 min, and an aliquot was collected to look for released single cells over a period of no longer than a total of 1 h. Venous adventitial fibroblasts (refer to hBCV advs hereafter) were collected by centrifugation at 1400 rpm for 5 min and resuspended in fibroblast growth media (human vascular smooth muscle cell basal medium (formerly known as “medium 231”) (M231500, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) supplemented with smooth muscle growth supplement (SMGS, S00725, Thermo Fisher Scientific), 1% P/S, 0.2% gentamicin ( R01510 , Thermo Fisher Scientific), and an extra 15% fetal bovine serum (FBS, SH3007103, Fisher Scientific)).

Techniques: Over Expression, Activation Assay, Infection, Expressing, Quantitative RT-PCR, Western Blot

Journal: World Neurosurgery: X

Article Title: Simultaneous bilateral application of the Scepter mini balloon microcatheter for occlusion of ethmoidal dural arteriovenous fistulas

doi: 10.1016/j.wnsx.2023.100261

Figure Lengend Snippet: Reported cases in the literature which are specific to the use of the SMBM for transophthalmic embolisation of anterior cranial fossa dAVFs.

Article Snippet: In this case series we present our recent experience in treating ethmoidal dAVFs using a bilateral transarterial (ophthalmic arteries) approach with simultaneous inflation of the Scepter Mini Balloon Microcatheter (SMBM) (MicroVention).

Techniques: