Francesca Seta, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Education:

B.S., University “G. D’Annunzio”, Chieti-Pescara, Italy
PhD in Pharmacology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA
Postdoc, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

General field of research:

Vascular Biology

Affiliations other than medicine:

Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research

Vascular Biology Section, Department of Medicine

Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute

Contact information:

Office
650 Albany St, Boston 02118 MA (room X726)

Phone
617-638-7119

Email
setaf@bu.edu

Other Website(s)
http://www.bumc.bu.edu/evanscenteribr/the-arcs/the-arcs/mechanisms-and-treatment-of-arterial-stiffness/

Keywords:

arterial stiffness, obesity, hypertension, oxidative stress

Summary of research interest:

The main focus of our research work is to understand the molecular and genetic mechanisms of arterial stiffness and possible pharmacological or life style interventions to prevent or reverse it. Arterial stiffness, or hardening of blood vessels, occurs naturally with aging or prematurely in obese individuals when blood vessels lose their elasticity and become “stiff”. This phenomenon has recently emerged in several clinical studies, including the Framingham Heart Study, as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and can lead to cardiovascular complications, such as hypertension, or deterioration of kidney and brain functions. We use in vivo and in vitro approaches to measure arterial stiffness, and to dissect active and passive properties of blood vessels. Inflammation, increased production of oxidant species, changes in structural and biomechanical properties of vessels and genetic components are investigated as possible contributors to arterial stiffness.

Recent publications:

Seta F. and Markus Bachschmid. The cyclooxygenase pathway of the arachidonate cascade. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences December 2011 (in press).

Seta F., Rahmani M., Turner P.V. and C.D. Funk. Pulmonary oxidative stress is increased in COX-2 knockdown mice with mild pulmonary hypertension induced by monocrotaline. PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e23439. Epub 2011 Aug 5

Seta F., Chung A.D., Turner P.V., Mewburn J.D., Yu Y. and C.D. Funk. Renal and cardiovascular characterization of COX-2 knockdown mice. Am J Physiol – Reg Integr Comp Physiol 2009 Jun;296(6):R1751-60.

Seta F., Patil K., Bellner L., Mezentsev A., Kemp R., Dunn M.W. and M. Laniado-Schwartzman. Inhibition of VEGF expression and corneal neovascularization by siRNA targeting cytochrome P450 (CYP) 4B1. POLM 2007 Nov; 84(3-4):116-27.

Seta F., Bellner L., Rizzani R., Dunn M.W., Abraham N., Gronert K. and M. Laniado-Schwartzman. Heme Oxygenase-2 (HO-2): a critical determinant for execution of an acute inflammatory and reparative response. American Journal of Pathology 2006 Nov;169(5):1612-23.