Emerging molecular therapeutic targets in the control of metabolic and cardiovascular disease

Rajendra K Tangirala

: J Bioengineer & Biomedical Sci

Abstract :

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and has been the subject of tremendous interest and investments by both biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. This makes cardiovascular drug discovery the largest therapeutic area and underscores the persistent need for the development of novel cardiometabolic therapeutic agents. The cluster of risk factors that increase prevalence of CVD known as the metabolic syndrome (MS) include, obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypertension. Recent advances in understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms and novel molecular biomarkers of these risk factors have led to identification of novel therapeutic targets for intervention. We investigated the role of several promising targets including nuclear hormone receptors, chemokine/adipokine receptors, inflammatory/antioxidant pathways in the control of metabolic and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Using an integrated multidisciplinary approach of molecular, cellular and gene-targeted in vivo methods and models, we identified novel mechanisms regulating vascular inflammation, metabolic dysregulation and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Recent studies on emerging molecular targets that offer potential pharmacotherapeutic strategies to ameliorate MS and CVD will be discussed.

Biography :

Dr. Tangirala completed his PhD from Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and postdoctoral studies from UC San Diego School of Medicine, and faculty research at University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. He was Leader of Pharmacology at X-Ceptor Therapeutics Inc, before returning to Academia. Currently, he is Associate Professor of Medicine at UCLA, Director, Phenotyping Core and Co-Director, Inflammation Core of UCLA/UCSD Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center of NIH. Dr. Tangirala received many awards including International Atherosclerosis Society Award for Scientific Excellence (Stockholm, 2000), published in several top journals and serves as editorial reviewer for several reputed journals. He gave several invited presentations at national and international meetings. He is the fellow and Co-Chair on National Research Peer Review Committee (AAG1) of the American Heart Association and a Principal Investigator of NIH-funded research in areas of molecular mechanisms of metabolic and cardiovascular disease.