Angiogenesis, Metabolism, and Inflammation in Aging and Atherosclerosis
Prof. Fengyan Jin E-Mail
Professor of Hematology, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
Research Keywords: Angiogenesis, inflammation, epigenetics, transcriptional regulation, age-related diseases
Seven interconnected pillars of aging (i.e., regeneration of stem cells, metabolism, proteostasis, macromolecular damage, stress, epigenetics, and inflammation) converge on inflammation, highlighting its central role in aging. It is now believed that aging and a variety of age-related diseases (particularly atherosclerotic and neurodegenerative diseases) are primarily driven by chronic but uncontrolled or nonresolving inflammation, known as inflammaging. In addition to inflammaging (age-related overactivity of the immune system), aging is also associated with incapacity of the immune system, named immunosenescence, with the complex relationship between them involving the interplay between innate and adaptive immune systems. Among numerous factors that trigger inflammaging, metabolic dysregulation is one of the most common causes, termed metaflammation, a specific form of inflammaging. Indeed, emerging evidence supports the reciprocal links between metabolism and inflammation in aging and age-related diseases (especially atherosclerosis), which would provide plenty of potential biomarkers and targets (inflammatory or metabolic, or both) for developing anti-inflammatory therapy to prevent and treat aging and age-related diseases. Moreover, while impaired angiogenesis also contributes to age-related diseases, its relationship with metabolism and inflammation remains largely unclear in this setting. This Special Issue provide a venue for publishing research that facilitates our understanding of the roles of metabolism and inflammation or their interactions in aging and age-related diseases, particularly focusing on but not limited to, atherosclerosis and its related diseases as well as angiogenesis.
Keywords: Biomarker, Therapeutic target, Anti-inflammatory therapy