High levels of peripheral serotonin, produced in the gut, are associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk and bone loss. We previously found that vascular smooth muscle and valvular cells ex Show more
High levels of peripheral serotonin, produced in the gut, are associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk and bone loss. We previously found that vascular smooth muscle and valvular cells express serotonin receptors, predominantly type 2A (HTR-2A) at baseline and type 2B (HTR-2B) upon TNF-a stimulation. Serotonin treatment augmented TNF-a-induced matrix calcification, whereas the inhibitor of gut serotonin, LP533401, blunted the initiation, but not the progression, of cardiovascular calcification in Apoe Show less
CBX5, CBX1, and CBX3 (HP1α, β, and γ, respectively) play an evolutionarily conserved role in the formation and maintenance of heterochromatin. In addition, CBX5, CBX1, and CBX3 may also participate in Show more
CBX5, CBX1, and CBX3 (HP1α, β, and γ, respectively) play an evolutionarily conserved role in the formation and maintenance of heterochromatin. In addition, CBX5, CBX1, and CBX3 may also participate in transcriptional regulation of genes. Recently, CBX3 binding to the bodies of a subset of genes has been observed in human and murine cells. However, the generality of this phenomenon and the role CBX3 may play in this context are unknown. Genome-wide localization analysis reveals CBX3 binding at genic regions, which strongly correlates with gene activity across multiple cell types. Depletion of CBX3 resulted in down-regulation of a subset of target genes. Loss of CBX3 binding leads to a more dramatic accumulation of unspliced nascent transcripts. In addition, we observed defective recruitment of splicing factors, including SNRNP70, to CBX3 target genes. Collectively, our data suggest a role for CBX3 in aiding in efficient cotranscriptional RNA processing. Show less