Endothelin Experts to Gather for Virtual APS Conference

Rockville, Md. (September 28, 2021)—Endothelin (ET) researchers from across the globe will meet virtually October 4–7, 2021, at the Seventeenth International Conference on Endothelin (ET-17), hosted and organized by the American Physiological Society (APS). Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is an amino acid peptide originally isolated from the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels; it functions in many different cell types in the body. The conference will feature presentations from leading ET authorities on the clinical applications of blocking the ET system and the use of ET as a biomarker for disease.

“This year’s theme is hot new areas in the ET field. Some presentations to keep an eye on are endothelin and the gut microbiome and the role of ET in hair follicle development,” explained conference co-organizer Kelly Hyndman, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“New labs are joining the meeting this year for the first time. That illustrates the excitement and growth opportunity for the endothelin field," added conference co-organizer Michelle L. Gumz, PhD, of the University of Florida.

“We hope hosting this meeting virtually—a first in the conference’s 23-year history—will help the ET community continue to grow, form new collaborations and provide trainees with the opportunity to connect with experts from around the world,” the organizers said in a statement.

Highlighted conference sessions are listed below. View the meeting program for more information.

Program Highlights

Monday, October 4

Opening lecture: Endothelin, the kidney and cardiovascular disease
Speaker: Neeraj “Bean” Shaun, MD, PhD, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Scotland

Session 1: Renal physiology and diseases
Chairs: Ivana Vaněčková, PhD, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic; Jermaine Johnston, PhD, University of Florida

Speakers:

“Why aprocitentan in resistant hypertension”
Martine Clozel, MD, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals, Switzerland

“Lack of renoprotective effects of targeting the endothelin A receptor and/or SGLT2 in a mouse model of type 2 diabetic kidney disease”
Nirupama Ramkumar, MD, University of Utah

“Global PER1 knockout Dahl salt-sensitive rats show increased expression of renal EDN1 mRNA and endothelin-1 peptide”
Alexandria Juffre, University of Florida

“Glomerular cell crosstalk through Et-1/ETAR in glomerular disease pathogenesis”
Ilse Daehn, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York

“A central role of endothelin A (ETA) receptor activation in mesangial cell-podocyte crosstalk in IgA nephropathy and other mesangio-proliferative glomerulopathies”
Andrew King, DVM, PhD, Chinook Therapeutics U.S. Inc., Seattle

Session 2: Cardiovascular physiology and diseases
Chairs: David Webb, MD, DSc, The Queen’s Medical Research Institute, Scotland; Carmen De Miguel, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Speakers:

“ETB receptors and vascular function in postmenopausal women”
Megan Wenner, PhD, University of Delaware

“Serum endothelin-1 level is significantly increased in coronary artery disease patients with diabetes mellitus”
Maria Patricia Inggriani, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia

“Reduced CBF in adults with metabolic syndrome: Role of ET-1”
Katrina Carter, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“Sex-specific response to endothelin-1 overexpression mediates thoracic aortic aneurysm development”
Vivian Lee-Kim, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston

“Knockout of the endothelin B receptor in adipocytes improves insulin sensitivity and the metabolic profile of male mice fed a high fat diet”
Joshua Speed, PhD, University of Mississippi Medical Center

“Mast cell degranulation specifically enhances the chymase-dependent conversion and pressor properties of big-endothelin-1 in the mouse model”
Laurence Vincent, University of Sherbrooke, Canada

Tuesday, October 5

Session 3: Recent advances in cancer
Chairs: Anil Gulati, MD, PhD, Pharmazz Inc., Willowbrook, Illinois; Piera Tocci, PhD, IRCCS, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute of Rome, Italy

Speakers:                                           

“Ambrisentan in cancer mets”
Otavio Cabral-Marques, PhD, University of São Paulo, Brazil

“Endothelin-1/ZEB1/YAP regulatory circuitry governs epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and metastatic progression in high-grade serous ovarian cancer”
Rosanna Sestito, PhD, IRCCS-Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Italy

“Differential effects of endothelin 2 and endothelin 1 silencing in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells”Ratih Paramita Suprapto, MD
, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan

“Endothelin-1 and YAP alliance in cancer”
Anna Bagnato, PhD, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Italy

Session 4: Neurophysiology and neurological disorders
Chairs: Rita Tostes, PhD, University of São Paulo, Brazil; Bryan Becker, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Speakers:

“Capillary pericyte contraction by Aβ-evoked ET-1 release as a therapeutic target for Alzheimer’s disease”
Nils Korte, PhD, University College London, U.K.

“Brain microvascular endothelial endothelin A (ETA) receptors contribute to
senescence”
Yasir Abdul, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina

“Selective afferent renal denervation and blood pressure in ETB-deficient rats”
Bryan Becker, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham

“The endothelin system in neurovascular function: lessons learned in diabetes”
Adviye Ergul, MD, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina

Wednesday, October 6

Session 5: Hot topics in ET research
Chairs: Ernesto Schiffrin, MD, PhD, McGill University, Canada; Megan Rhoads, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Speakers:           

“BQ788, an endothelin ETB receptor antagonist alleviates blood-brain barrier disruption and brain edema after traumatic brain injury”
Shotaro Michinaga, PhD, Osaka Ohtani University, Japan

“The myeloid endothelin-B receptor: a sex-dependent regulator of blood pressure”
Greg Sutton, MS, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

“Common variants associated with hypertension and CAD epigenetically regulate vascular-specific expression of EDNRA”
Rajat Gupta, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston

“Endothelin B receptor agonist, sovateltide, prevents neuronal loss, reduces beta-amyloid plaques, and restores memory deficit in APP/PS1 mouse model of Alzheimer's disease”
Seema Briyal, PhD, Midwestern University, Glendale, Arizona

“Gut microbiota and the ET system”
Craig Maynard, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Session 6: ERAs in clinical trials
Chairs: Anthony Davenport, PhD, University of Cambridge, U.K.; Lauren Douma, PhD, University of Florida

Speakers:           

“Update on SONAR”
Don Kohan, MD, PhD, FAPS, University of Utah

“Development of sparsentan, a dual antagonist of endothelin and angiotensin II receptors, in rare glomerular diseases”
Radko Komers, MD, PhD, Travere Therapeutics Inc., San Diego

“Clinical rationale for a potent and selective ETA blocker for the treatment of IgAN and other glomerular diseases: the ALIGN and AFFINITY trials”A
lain Romero, PhD, PharmD, Chinook Therapeutics U.S. Inc., Seattle

“The Medical Research Council precision medicine with Zibotentan in microvascular angina (PRIZE) trial”
Andrew Morrow, MBChB, University of Glasgow, Scotland

Thursday, October 7

Session 7: Other organ systems
Chairs: John Pernow, PhD, Karolinska Institute, Sweden; Janet Maguire, PhD, University of Cambridge, U.K.

Speakers:           

“Progenitor-derived endothelin controls dermal sheath contraction for hair follicle regression”
Michael Rendl, MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York

“Protective roles of epithelial-derived Endothelin-2 in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis”
Aristi Intan Soraya, MD, Kobe Pharmaceutical University, Japan

“Adrenal endothelin axis genes in global Per1 knockout Dahl salt-sensitive rats”
Hannah Costello, PhD, University of Florida

“Endothelin receptor antagonism reduces gut permeability to prevent DSS-induced colitis in mice”
Rachel Muir, University of Alabama at Birmingham

“Q&A with Masashi Yanagisawa: thoughts on the field”
Masashi Yanagisawa, MD, PhD, University of Tsukuba, Japan
Chairs: Michelle Gumz, PhD, University of Florida; Kelly Hyndman, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham

NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: The Seventeenth International Conference on Endothelin (ET-17), hosted and organized by APS, will be held October 4–7 on a virtual platform. To schedule an interview with the conference organizers or presenters, contact APS Media Relations or call 301.634.7314. Find more research highlights in the APS Newsroom.

Physiology is a broad area of scientific inquiry that focuses on how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function in health and disease. The American Physiological Society connects a global, multidisciplinary community of more than 10,000 biomedical scientists and educators as part of its mission to advance scientific discovery, understand life and improve health. The Society drives collaboration and spotlights scientific discoveries through its 16 scholarly journals and programming that support researchers and educators in their work.