Rising Star Faculty – Dr. Francesca Seta

Bcl11b: A newly identified regulator of vascular function

ABSTRACT

Bcl11b is a transcription factor previously known for its role in T cells and neuronal cells development. We discovered that Bcl11b is expressed in the smooth muscle of blood vessels where it regulated vascular stiffness via the cGMP/PKG/pVASP pathway. Lack of Bcl11b in VSM in mice (BSMKO mice) lead to increased actin polymerization and impaired focal adhesions in VSM cells, which were partially ameliorating by restoring pVASP. Moreover, when challenged with the hypertensive agent angiotensin II, BSMKO mice develop aortic aneurysm; we hypothesize this is due to an impaired mechanotrasduction among VSM cells and the extracellular matrix.

NARRATIVE BIOSKETCH

Dr. Seta obtained her BSc/MSc at Univerisity D’Annunzio, Pescara, Italy, she them moved to US to pursue her PhD in Pharmacology at New York Medical College. After graduation, she trained as post-doctoral fellow at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada and then at BU School of medicine in the Vascular Biology Section. Since 2011 she is an Assistant Professor and since 2018 she became the Director of the Metabolic Phenotyping and IVIS Core at BU med Campus. Dr Seta is a basic scientist and her research interests are on molecular mechanism of arterial remodeling linked to vascular diseases, mainly arterial stiffening and aortic aneurysm. She is an NIH-funded investigator.