5 / 17
Page 36
Notes:
conferenceseries
.com
June 26-27, 2017 San Diego, USA
13
th
International conference on
Pathology and Molecular Diagnosis
Volume 7, Issue 2 (Suppl)
J Clin Exp Pathol, an open access journal
ISSN:2161-0681
Pathology and Molecular Diagnosis 2017
June 26-27, 2017
Cytokines in atherosclerosis disease progression: Roles, mechanisms of actions and current
therapeutic approaches
Dipak P Ramji, Thomas S Davies, Joe W E Moss, Jessica Williams, Ffion Harris, Alex Joseph, Faizah B Jaffar and Wijdan Al-Ahmadi
Cardiff University, UK
A
therosclerosis, the underlying cause of heart attack and stroke, is an inflammatory disorder of the vasculature regulated
by both the innate and adaptive immune systems. Cytokines play a pivotal role in controlling the inflammatory response
in atherosclerosis and regulate all the different stages in disease progression. Current approaches to target pro-inflammatory
cytokines include neutralization using blocking antibodies or soluble decoy receptors and the use of specific inhibitors against
key components of intracellular signaling pathways. In contrast, approaches for anti-atherogenic cytokines include their local
delivery and the use of agents that augment their expression/actions. Numerous cytokines are expressed in atherosclerotic
lesions and it is therefore essential that their actions in disease progression are fully understood to validate their therapeutic
potential and to identify potentially new targets or approaches for therapeutic intervention. My laboratory has recently been
investigating cytokine signaling in atherosclerosis, particularly in macrophages that play key roles in all stages of disease
progression, using a combination of
in vitro
and
in vivo
approaches. Novel insights have been obtained on the actions of
the cytokines interferon-gamma, transforming growth factor-beta, interleukin-33 and tumor necrosis factor-like protein
1A on key macrophage processes in atherosclerosis (e.g. foam cell formation, regulation of inflammation). For example, we
have identified a key role for extracellular signal-regulated kinase: signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 serine
727 phosphorylation axis in the control of macrophage foam cell formation and the regulation of pro-inflammatory gene
expression by interferon-gamma. The outcome of our studies on different cytokines will be presented in the context of current
therapies and future developments in this field.
Biography
Dipak P Ramji received his BSc (Hons) degree (Biochemistry) and his PhD from University of Leeds. This was followed by Post-doctoral research at the EMBL
(Heidelberg) and IRBM (Rome) with fellowships from the Royal Society and the EU. He joined Cardiff University in 1992 and is currently a Reader at Cardiff School
of Biosciences. His research is focused on understanding how the immune and inflammatory responses regulate macrophage processes in atherosclerosis with
the goal of attaining deeper mechanistic insight and identifying preventative/therapeutic agents. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed papers, reviews and book
chapters (h-index=30; i10-index=57). He is an Editorial Board Member of 16 international journals.
Ramji@cardiff.ac.ukDipak P Ramji et al., J Clin Exp Pathol 2017, 7:2 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2161-0681-C1-034