Cigarette smoke (CS) is the most preventable cause of death and chronic disease in the United States. In addition to being a risk factor for atherosclerosis and cancer, recent epidemiologic studies suggest that cigarette smoke promotes the progression of kidney disease.

A scientific breakthrough at Rice University could lead to the first treatment that prevents the build-up of deadly scar tissue in a broad class of diseases that account for an estimated 45 percent of U.S. deaths each year.

Atherosclerosis is a disease of the blood vessels that causes many problems, including heart attacks. It is caused by a buildup of fat (lipid)-containing macrophages (the rubbish-collecting cells of the immune system) in the arteries. The presence in the blood of high levels of remnant lipoproteins, cholesterol-rich particles that are produced as the large lipoprotein complexes that transport lipids around the body are degraded, potently promotes the development of atherosclerosis.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have pinpointed a key regulatory protein that translates blood flow into gene expression. The investigators showed that in a model of mouse embryonic development a transcription factor called Klf2, which resides in cells that line blood vessels, is activated by rapid, pulsed blood flow, as reported in the December issue of Developmental Cell. Understanding Klf2's role in blood vessel and muscle biology could help with fighting atherosclerosis.