Publications

Altshuler A, Wickström SA, Shalom-Feuerstein R. Spotlighting adult stem cells: advances, pitfalls, and challenges. Trends Cell Biol 2023, 33:477-94. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2022.09.007.

Anisimov A, Fang S, Hemanthakumar KA, Örd T, van Avondt K, Chevre R, Toropainen A, Singha P, Gilani H, Nguyen SD, Karaman S, Korhonen EA, Adams RH, Augustin HG, Öörni K, Soehnlein O, Kaikkonen MU, Alitalo K. The angiopoietin receptor Tie2 is atheroprotective in arterial endothelium. Nat Cardiovasc Res 2023, 2:307-21. doi: 10.1038/s44161-023-00224-y.

Beltrà M, Pöllänen N, Fornelli C, Tonttila K, Hsu MY, Zampieri S, Moletta L, Corrà S, Porporato PE, Kivelä R, Viscomi C, Sandri M, Hulmi JJ, Sartori R, Pirinen E, Penna F. NAD+ repletion with niacin counteracts cancer cachexia. Nat Commun 2023, Apr 3;14(1):1849. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37595-6.

Cao X, Li T, Xu B, Ding K, Li W, Shen B, Chu M, Zhu D, Rui L, Shang Z, Li X, Wang Y, Zheng S, Alitalo K, Liu G, Tang J, Kubota Y, He Y. Endothelial TIE1 Restricts Angiogenic Sprouting to Coordinate Vein Assembly in Synergy With Its Homologue TIE2. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2023, 43:e323-e338. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.122.318860.

Chiang IKN, Graus MS, Kirschnick N, Davidson T, Luu W, Harwood R, Jiang K, Li B, Wong YY, Moustaqil M, Lesieur E, Skoczylas R, Kouskoff V, Kazenwadel J, Arriola-Martinez L, Sierecki E, Gambin Y, Alitalo K, Kiefer F, Harvey NL, Francois M. The blood vasculature instructs lymphatic patterning in a SOX7-dependent manner. EMBO J 2023, Mar 1;42(5):e109032. doi: 10.15252/embj.2021109032.

Freitag TL, Fagerlund R, Karam NL, Leppänen VM, Ugurlu H, Kant R, Mäkinen P, Tawfek A, Jha SK, Strandin T, Leskinen K, Hepojoki J, Kesti T, Kareinen L, Kuivanen S, Koivulehto E, Sormunen A, Laidinen S, Khattab A, Saavalainen P, Meri S, Kipar A, Sironen T, Vapalahti O, Alitalo K, Ylä-Herttuala S, Saksela K. Intranasal administration of adenoviral vaccines expressing SARS-CoV-2 spike protein improves vaccine immunity in mouse models. Vaccine 2023, 41:3233-46. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.04.020.

Happonen N, Härma MA, Akhi R, Nissinen AE, Savolainen MJ, Ruuth M, Öörni K, Adeshara K, Lehto M, Groop PH, Koivukangas V, Hukkanen J, Hörkkö S. Impact of RYGB surgery on plasma immunoglobulins: association between blood pressure and glucose levels six months after surgery. APMIS 2023, Dec 27. doi: 10.1111/apm.13366.

Jahromi BR, Zamotin V, Code C, Netti E, Lorey MB, Alitalo K, Öörni K, Laakso A, Tulamo R, Niemelä M. Immunoliposomes for detection of rupture-prone intracranial aneurysms. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2023, 11:3353-60.Sep 26. doi: 10.1007/s00701-023-05770-9.

Kiiskinen T, Helkkula P, Krebs K, Karjalainen J, Saarentaus E, Mars N, Lehisto A, Zhou W, Cordioli M, Jukarainen S, Rämö JT, Mehtonen J, Veerapen K, Räsänen M, Ruotsalainen S, Maasha M; FinnGen; Niiranen T, Tuomi T, Salomaa V, Kurki M, Pirinen M, Palotie A, Daly M, Ganna A, Havulinna AS, Milani L, Ripatti S. Genetic predictors of lifelong medication-use patterns in cardiometabolic diseases. Nat Med 2023, 29:209-18. doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-02122-5.

Kovanen PT. Inhibition of chymase-dependent production of IL-1β by smooth muscle cells in the fibrous caps of human atherosclerotic plaques: A reasonable approach to prevent cap rupture? Atherosclerosis 2023, Dec 17:117412. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2023.117412. Editorial.

Kovanen PT, Vuorio A. SARS-CoV-2 reinfection: Adding insult to dysfunctional endothelium in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Atheroscler Plus 2023, 53:1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.athplu.2023.06.002.

Lee-Rueckert M, Canyelles M, Tondo M, Rotllan N, Kovanen PT, Llorente-Cortes V, Escolà-Gil JC. Obesity-induced changes in cancer cells and their microenvironment: Mechanisms and therapeutic perspectives to manage dysregulated lipid metabolism. Semin Cancer Biol 2023, 93:36-51. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2023.05.002.

Li Z, Antila S, Nurmi H, Chilov D, Korhonen EA, Fang S, Karaman S, Engelhardt B, Alitalo K. Blockade of VEGFR3 signaling leads to functional impairment of dural lymphatic vessels without affecting autoimmune neuroinflammation. Sci Immunol 2023, Apr 14;8(82):eabq0375. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abq0375.

Lorey MB, Youssef A, Äikäs L, Borrelli M, Hermansson M, Assini JM, Kemppainen A, Ruhanen H, Ruuth M, Matikainen S, Kovanen PT, Käkelä R, Boffa MB, Koschinsky ML, Öörni K. Lipoprotein(a) induces caspase-1 activation and IL-1 signaling in human macrophages. Front Cardiovasc Med 2023, May 24;10:1130162. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1130162.

Lyytinen AT, Yesmean M, Manninen S, Lankinen M, Bhalke M, Fredrikson L, Käkelä RT, Öörni K, Schwab US. Fatty fish consumption reduces lipophilic index in erythrocyte membranes and serum phospholipids. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2023, 33:1453-60. doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2023.04.011.

Maaninka K, Neuvonen M, Kerkelä E, Hyvärinen K, Palviainen M, Kamali-Moghaddam M, Federico A, Greco D, Laitinen S, Öörni K, Siljander PR. OxLDL sensitizes platelets for increased formation of extracellular vesicles capable of finetuning macrophage gene expression. Eur J Cell Biol 2023, Jun;102(2):151311. doi:10.1016/j.ejcb.2023.151311.

Osto E, Roeters van Lennep JE, Tokgözoğlu L, Öörni K. Influence of sex and gender on the biology of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: Special issue. Atherosclerosis 2023, Nov;384:117297. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2023.117297.

Paavonsalo S, Subashi Y, Lackman MH, Karaman S. Whole-mount immunofluorescence staining of blood and lymphatic vessels in murine small intestine. STAR Protoc 2023, May 13;4(2):102310. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro. 2023.102310.

Pietilä R, Del Gaudio F, He L, Vázquez-Liébanas E, Vanlandewijck M, Muhl L, Mocci G, Bjørnholm KD, Lindblad C, Fletcher-Sandersjöö A, Svensson M, Thelin EP, Liu J, van Voorden AJ, Torres M, Antila S, Xin L, Karlström H, Storm-Mathisen J, Bergersen LH, Moggio A, Hansson EM, Ulvmar MH, Nilsson P, Mäkinen T, Andaloussi Mäe M, Alitalo K, Proulx ST, Engelhardt B, McDonald DM, Lendahl U, Andrae J, Betsholtz C. Molecular anatomy of adult mouse leptomeninges. Neuron 2023, 111:3745-64. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.09.002.

Rannikko JH, Verlingue L, de Miguel M, Pasanen A, Robbrecht D, Skytta T, Iivanainen S, Shetty S, Ma YT, Graham DM, Arora SP, Jaakkola P, Yap C, Xiang Y, Mandelin J, Karvonen MK, Jalkanen J, Karaman S, Koivunen JP, Minchom A, Hollmén M, Bono P. Bexmarilimab-induced macrophage activation leads to treatment benefit in solid tumors: The phase I/II first-in-human MATINS trial. Cell Rep Med 2023, Dec 19;4(12):101307. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm. 101307.

Rauniyar K, Bokharaie H, Jeltsch M. Expansion and collapse of VEGF diversity in major clades of the animal kingdom. Angiogenesis 2023, 26: 437-61. doi: 10.1007/s10456-023-09874-9.

Roos-Mattila M, Kaprio T, Mustonen H, Hagström J, Saharinen P, Haglund C, Seppänen H. The possible dual role of Ang-2 in the prognosis of pancreatic cancer. Sci Rep 2023, Oct 31;13(1):18725. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-45194-0.

Samuelsson AM, Bartolomaeus TUP, Anandakumar H, Thowsen I, Nikpey E, Han J, Marko L, Finne K, Tenstad O, Eckstein J, Berndt N, Kühne T, Kedziora S, Sultan I, Skogstrand T, Karlsen TV, Nurmi H, Forslund SK, Bollano E, Alitalo K, Muller DN, Wiig H. VEGF-B hypertrophy predisposes to transition from diastolic to systolic heart failure in hypertensive rats. Cardiovasc Res 2023, 119:1553-67 doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvad040.

Sawant M, Wang F, Koester J, Niehoff A, Nava MM, Lundgren-Akerlund E, Gullberg D, Leitinger B, Wickström S, Eckes B, Krieg T. Ablation of integrin-mediated cell-collagen communication alleviates fibrosis. Ann Rheum Dis 2023, 82:1474-86. doi: 10.1136/ard-2023-224129

Simonen P, Öörni K, Sinisalo J, Strandberg TE, Wester I, Gylling H. High cholesterol absorption: A risk factor of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases? Atherosclerosis 2023, 376:53-62. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2023.06.003.

Tuohinto K, DiMaio TA, Kiss EA, Laakkonen P, Saharinen P, Karnezis T, Lagunoff M, Ojala PM. KSHV infection of endothelial precursor cells with lymphatic characteristics as a novel model for translational Kaposi’s sarcoma studies. PLoS Pathog 2023, Jan 23;19(1):e1010753. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010753.

Uçar MC, Hannezo E, Tiilikainen E, Liaqat I, Jakobsson E, Nurmi H, Vaahtomeri K. Self-organized and directed branching results in optimal coverage in developing dermal lymphatic networks. Nat Commun 2023, Sep 21;14(1):5878. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41456-7.

Ueland T, Äikäs LAO, Dahl TB, Gregersen I, Olsen MB, Michelsen A, Schanke Y, Holopainen M, Ruhanen H, Singh S; NOR-SOLIDARITY Consortium; Tveita AA, Finbråten AK, Heggelund L, Trøseid M, Dyrhol-Riise AM, Nyman TA, Holven KB, Öörni K, Aukrust P, Halvorsen B. Low-density lipoprotein particles carrying proinflammatory proteins with altered aggregation pattern detected in COVID-19 patients 3 months after hospitalization. J Infect 2023, 86:489-92. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2023.02.024.

Vaparanta K, Jokilammi A, Paatero I, Merilahti JA, Heliste J, Hemanthakumar KA, Kivelä R, Alitalo K, Taimen P, Elenius K. STAT5b is a key effector of NRG-1/ERBB4-mediated myocardial growth. EMBO Rep 2023, May 4;24(5):e56689. doi: 10.15252/embr.202256689.

Vuorio A, Budowle B, Raal F, Kovanen PT. Wildfire smoke exposure and cardiovascular disease-should statins be recommended to prevent cardiovascular events? Front Cardiovasc Med 2023, Sep 14;10:1259162. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1259162.

Vuorio A, Kovanen PT, Raal FJ. Coronary microcirculatory dysfunction in hypercholesterolemic patients with COVID-19: potential benefit from cholesterol-lowering treatment. Ann Med 2023, Dec;55(1):2199218. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2023.2199218.

Vuorio A, Raal F, Kovanen PT. Familial hypercholesterolemia: The nexus of endothelial dysfunction and lipoprotein metabolism in COVID-19. Curr Opin Lipidol 2023, 34:119-125. doi: 10.1097/MOL.0000000000000876.

Zarkada G, Chen X, Zhou X, Lange M, Zeng L, Lv W, Zhang X, Li Y, Zhou W, Liu K, Chen D, Ricard N, Liao J, Kim YB, Benedito R, Claesson-Welsh L, Alitalo K, Simons M, Ju R, Li X, Eichmann A, Zhang F. Chylomicrons Regulate Lacteal Permeability and Intestinal Lipid Absorption. Circ Res 2023, 133:333-49. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.123.322607.

PHD THESIS

Salli Antila, PhD: The VEGF-C/VEGFR3 signaling pathway in ocular and dural lymphatic vessel development and disease, University of Helsinki.

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES IN NATIONAL JOURNALS (IN FINNISH)

Kovanen P., Vuorio A., Lehtoranta L., Lundqvist A., Jousilahti P. Lipoproteiini (a) – valtimotaudin salakavala riskitekijä. Suomen Lääkärilehti 2023, 78: e37630.

Altshuler A, Wickström SA, Shalom-Feuerstein R. Spotlighting adult stem cells: advances, pitfalls, and challenges. Trends Cell Biol 2022, Oct 18:S0962-8924(22)00217-3. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2022.09.007.

Bertillot F, Miroshnikova YA, Wickström SA. SnapShot: Mechanotransduction in the nucleus. Cell 2022, Sep 15;185(19):3638-3638.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.08.017.

Dupont S, Wickström SA. Mechanical regulation of chromatin and transcription. Nat Rev Genet 2022, 23:624-43.

Gao Y, Päivinen P, Tripathi S, Domènech-Moreno E, Wong IPL, Vaahtomeri K, Nagaraj AS, Talwelkar SS, Foretz M, Verschuren EW, Viollet B, Yan Y, Mäkelä TP. Inactivation of AMPK Leads to Attenuation of Antigen Presentation and Immune Evasion in Lung Adenocarcinoma. Clin Cancer Res 2022, 28:227-37.

Gizaw NY, Kallio P, Punger T, Gucciardo E, Haglund C, Böhling T, Lehti K, Sampo M, Alitalo K, Kivelä R. PROX1 transcription factor controls rhabdomyosarcoma growth, stemness, myogenic properties and therapeutic targets. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022, Dec 6;119(49):e2116220119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2116220119.

Huuska N, Netti E, Lehti S, Kovanen PT, Niemelä M, Tulamo R. Acta Lymphatic vessels are present in human saccular intracranial aneurysms. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2022, Sep 5;10(1):130. doi: 10.1186/s40478-022-01430-8.

Karaman S, Paavonsalo S, Heinolainen K, Lackman MH, Ranta A, Hemanthakumar KA, Kubota Y, Alitalo K. Interplay of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors in organ-specific vessel maintenance. J Exp Med 2022, Mar 7;219(3):e20210565. doi: 10.1084/jem.20210565.

Korhonen EA, Murtomäki A, Jha SK, Anisimov A, Pink A, Zhang Y, Stritt S, Liaqat I, Stanczuk L, Alderfer L, Sun Z, Kapiainen E, Singh A, Sultan I, Lantta A, Leppänen VM, Eklund L, He Y, Augustin HG, Vaahtomeri K, Saharinen P, Mäkinen T, Alitalo K. Lymphangiogenesis requires Ang2/Tie/PI3K signaling for VEGFR3 cell-surface expression. J Clin Invest 2022, Aug 1;132(15):e155478. doi: 10.1172/JCI155478.

Lackman MH, Subashi Y, Karaman S. A closer look at adipose tissue lymphatics and their markers. Curr Opin Hematol 2022, 29:144-50

Lahelma M, Qadri S, Ahlholm N, Porthan K, Ruuth M, Juuti A, Orešič M, Hyötyläinen T, Öörni K, Yki-Järvinen H. The human liver lipidome is significantly related to the lipid composition and aggregation susceptibility of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles. Atherosclerosis 2022, 363:22-9.

Lee-Rueckert M, Lappalainen J, Kovanen PT, Escola-Gil JC. Lipid-Laden Macrophages and Inflammation in Atherosclerosis and Cancer: An Integrative View. Front Cardiovasc Med 2022, Feb 14;9:777822. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.777822.

Leppäpuska IM, Hartiala P, Suominen S, Suominen E, Kaartinen I, Mäki M, Seppänen M, Kiiski J, Viitanen T, Lahdenperä O, Vuolanto A, Alitalo K, Saarikko AM. Phase 1 Lymfactin® Study: 24-month Efficacy and Safety Results of Combined Adenoviral VEGF-C and Lymph Node Transfer Treatment for Upper Extremity Lymphedema. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg 2022, 75:3938-45.

Lorey MB, Öörni K, Kovanen PT. Modified Lipoproteins Induce Arterial Wall Inflammation During Atherogenesis. Front Cardiovasc Med 2022, Mar 3;9:841545. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.841545.

Martin IM, Nava MM, Wickström SA, Gräter F. ATP allosterically stabilizes integrin-linked kinase for efficient force generation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022, Mar 15;119(11):e2106098119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2106098119.
Merlini A, Haberl M, Strauß J, Hildebrand L, Genc N, Franz J, Chilov D, Alitalo K, Flügel-Koch C, Stadelmann C, Flügel A, Odoardi F. Distinct roles of the meningeal layers in CNS autoimmunity. Nat Neurosci 2022, 25:887-9.

Miroshnikova YA, Wickström SA. Mechanical Forces in Nuclear Organization. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2022, Jan 4;14(1):a039685. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a039685.

Muhl L, He L, Sun Y, Andaloussi Mäe M, Pietilä R, Liu J, Genové G, Zhang L, Xie Y, Leptidis S, Mocci G, Stritt S, Osman A, Anisimov A, Hemanthakumar KA, Räsänen M, Hansson EM, Björkegren J, Vanlandewijck M, Blomgren K, Mäkinen T, Peng XR, Hu Y, Ernfors P, Arnold TD, Alitalo K, Lendahl U, Betsholtz C. The SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 is expressed in mouse pericytes but not endothelial cells: Implications for COVID-19 vascular research. Stem Cell Reports 2022, 17:1089-1104.

Navarese EP, Grzelakowska K, Mangini F, Kubica J, Banach M, Benn M, Binder CJ, Borén J, Catapano A, Kronenberg F, Mallat Z, Moulin P, Öörni K, Ray KK, Roeters van Lennep JE, Romeo S, Tokgozoglu L, von Eckardstein A, Zambon A, Raggi P. The spoils of war and the long-term spoiling of health conditions of entire nations. Atherosclerosis 2022, 352:76-9.

Nguyen SD, Maaninka K, Mäyränpää MI, Baumann M, Soliymani R, Lee-Rueckert M, Jauhiainen M, Kovanen PT, Öörni K. Neutrophil proteinase 3 – An LDL- and HDL-proteolyzing enzyme with a potential to contribute to cholesterol accumulation in human atherosclerotic lesions. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids 2022, Sep 2;1867(12):159225. doi: 10.1016/j.bbalip.2022.159225.

Rauniyar K, Akhondzadeh S, Gąciarz A, Künnapuu J, Jeltsch M. Bioactive VEGF-C from E. coli. Sci Rep 2022, Oct 28;12(1):18157. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-22960-0.

Sorto P, Mäyränpää MI, Saksi J, Nuotio K, Ijäs P, Tuimala J, Vikatmaa P, Soinne L, Kovanen PT, Lindsberg PJ. Glutamine synthetase in human carotid plaque macrophages associates with features of plaque vulnerability: An immunohistological study. Atherosclerosis 2022, 352:18-26.

Thowsen IM, Reikvam T, Skogstrand T, Samuelsson AM, Müller DN, Tenstad O, Alitalo K, Karlsen T, Wiig H. Genetic Engineering of Lymphangiogenesis in Skin Does Not Affect Blood Pressure in Mouse Models of Salt-Sensitive Hypertension. Hypertension 2022 Aug 31:101161HYPERTENSIONAHA12219777. doi:10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.122.19777.

Virenque A, Koivisto H, Antila S, Zub E, Rooney EJ, Miszczuk D, Müller A, Stoka E, Marchi N, Alitalo K, Tanila H, Noe FM. Significance of developmental meningeal lymphatic dysfunction in experimental post-traumatic injury. Brain Behav Immun Health 2022, May 4;23:100466. doi: 10.1016/j.bbih.2022.100466.

Vuorio A, Brinck J, Kovanen PT. Continuation of fibrate therapy in patients with metabolic syndrome and COVID-19: a beneficial regime worth pursuing. Ann Med 2022, 54:1952-5.

Vuorio A, Kovanen PT, Raal F. Cholesterol-lowering drugs for high-risk hypercholesterolemia patients with COVID-19 while on Paxlovid™ therapy. Future Virol 2022, Jul:10.2217/fvl-2022-0060. doi: 10.2217/fvl-2022-0060.

Vuorio A, Kovanen PT, Raal F. Opportunities for preventing further endothelial dysfunction in pregnant COVID-19 patients with familial hypercholesterolemia. J Clin Lipidol 2022, 6:356-7. Letter to the Editor.

Vuorio A, Kovanen PT, Raal F. Statin Needs to be Continued During Paxlovid Therapy in COVID-19. Clin Infect Dis 2022, 75:2281-2. Correspondence.

Vuorio A, Raal F, Ijäs P, Kaste M, Kovanen PT. Long-Term Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Challenges Posed by COVID-19 in Patients With Familial Hypercholesterolemia. Front Pharmacol 2022, May 11;13:890141. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.890141. New Insight.

Vuorio A, Raal F, Kovanen PT. Drug-drug interaction with oral antivirals for the early treatment of COVID-19. Int J Infect Dis 2022, 127:171-2. Letter to the Editor.

Vuorio A, Raal F, Kovanen PT. Monkeypox is a global public health emergency: The role of repurposing cholesterol lowering drugs not to be forgotten. J Clin Lipidol 2022, 16:757-8. Letter to the Editor.

Vuorio A, Sajantila A, Kovanen PT, Budowle B, Maleficent Comrades: War in Ukraine and COVID-19. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 2022, 13:1-3.

Wang H, Segersvärd H, Siren J, Perttunen S, Immonen K, Kosonen R, Chen YC, Tolva J, Laivuori M, Mäyränpää MI, Kovanen PT, Sinisalo J, Laine M, Tikkanen I, Lakkisto P Tankyrase Inhibition Attenuates Cardiac Dilatation and Dysfunction in Ischemic Heart Failure. Int J Mol Sci 2022, Sep 2;23(17):10059. doi: 10.3390/ijms231710059.

Wang C, Taskinen JH, Segersvärd H, Immonen K, Kosonen R, Tolva JM, Mäyränpää MI, Kovanen PT, Olkkonen VM, Sinisalo J, Laine M, Tikkanen I, Lakkisto P. Alterations of Cardiac Protein Kinases in Cyclic Nucleotide-Dependent Signaling Pathways in Human Ischemic Heart Failure. Front Cardiovasc Med 2022, Jun 17;9:919355. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.919355.

Allmeroth K, Kim CS, Annibal A, Pouikli A, Koester J, Derisbourg MJ, Andrés Chacón-Martínez C, Latza C, Antebi A, Tessarz P, Wickström SA, Denzel MS N1-acetylspermidine is a determinant of hair follicle stem cell fate. J Cell Sci 2021, May 1;134(9):jcs252767. doi: 10.1242/jcs.252767.

Binder CJ, Borén J, Catapano A, Kronenberg F, Mallat Z, Negrini S, Öörni K, Raggi P, von Eckardstein A. The year 2020 in Atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis 2021, 326:35-44. Editorial.

Christensen JJ, Narverud I, Ruuth M, Heier M, Jauhiainen M, Ulven SM, Bogsrud MP, Kovanen PT, Halvorsen B, Oda MN, Wium C, Retterstøl K, Öörni K, Holven KB. Children with familial hypercholesterolemia display changes in LDL and HDL function: A cross-sectional study. J Intern Med 2021, 290:1083-97.

Christensen JJ, Telle-Hansen VH, Ulven SM, Kovanen PT, Jauhiainen M, Öörni K, Holven KB.The homeoviscous adaptation to dietary lipids (HADL) hypothesis is probably incorrect.

Am J Clin Nutr 2021, 113:1711-2. Letter to the Editor.

Clement CC, D’Alessandro A, Thangaswamy S, Chalmers S, Furtado R, Spada S, Mondanelli G, Ianni F, Gehrke S, Gargaro M, Manni G, Cara LCL, Runge P, Tsai WL, Karaman S, Arasa J, Fernandez-Rodriguez R, Beck A, Macchiarulo A, Gadina M, Halin C, Fallarino F, Skobe M, Veldhoen M, Moretti S, Formenti S, Demaria S, Soni RK, Galarini R, Sardella R, Lauvau G, Putterman C, Alitalo K, Grohmann U, Santambrogio L. 3-hydroxy-L-kynurenamine is an immunomodulatory biogenic amine. Nat Commun 2021, Jul 21;12(1):4447. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-24785-3.

Coulombe PA, Wickström SA. A niche above: A novel modality of stem cell regulation in mammalian skin epidermis. Cell Stem Cell 2021, 28:365-6.

Erkkilä AT, Manninen S, Fredrikson L, Bhalke M, Holopainen M, Ruuth M, Lankinen M, Käkelä R, Öörni K, Schwab US. Lipidomic changes of LDL after consumption of Camelina sativa oil, fatty fish and lean fish in subjects with impaired glucose metabolism-A randomized controlled trial.. J Clin Lipidol 2021, 15:743-51.

Flanagan DJ, Pentinmikko N, Luopajärvi K, Willis NJ, Gilroy K, Raven AP, Mcgarry L, Englund JI, Webb AT, Scharaw S, Nasreddin N, Hodder MC, Ridgway RA, Minnee E, Sphyris N, Gilchrist E, Najumudeen AK, Romagnolo B, Perret C, Williams AC, Clevers H, Nummela P, Lähde M, Alitalo K, Hietakangas V, Hedley A, Clark W, Nixon C, Kirschner K, Jones EY, Ristimäki A, Leedham SJ, Fish PV, Vincent JP, Katajisto P, Sansom OJ. NOTUM from Apc-mutant cells biases clonal competition to initiate cancer. Nature 2021, 594:430-5.

Gao Y, Päivinen P, Tripathi S, Domènech-Moreno E, Wong IPL, Vaahtomeri K, Nagaraj AS, Talwelkar SS, Foretz M, Verschuren EW, Viollet B, Yan Y, Mäkelä TP. Inactivation of AMPK Leads to Attenuation of Antigen Presentation and Immune Evasion in Lung Adenocarcinoma. Clin Cancer Res 2021, Oct 19. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-21-2049.

Grunewald M, Kumar S, Sharife H, Volinsky E, Gileles-Hillel A, Licht T, Permyakova A, Hinden L, Azar S, Friedmann Y, Kupetz P, Tzuberi R, Anisimov A, Alitalo K, Horwitz M, Leebhoff S, Khoma OZ, Hlushchuk R, Djonov V, Abramovitch R, Tam J, Keshet E. Counteracting age-related VEGF signaling insufficiency promotes healthy aging and extends life span. Science 2021, Jul 30;373(6554):eabc8479. doi: 10.1126/science.abc8479.

Heffron SP, Ruuth MK, Xia Y, Hernandez G, Äikäs L, Rodriguez C, Öörni K, Berger JS. Low-density lipoprotein aggregation predicts adverse cardiovascular events in peripheral artery disease.Atherosclerosis 2021, 316:53-7.

Heino S, Fang S, Lähde M, Högström J, Nassiri S, Campbell A, Flanagan D, Raven A, Hodder M, Nasreddin N, Xue HH, Delorenzi M, Leedham S, Petrova TV, Sansom O, Alitalo K. Lef1 restricts ectopic crypt formation and tumor cell growth in intestinal adenomas.

Sci Adv 2021, Nov 19;7(47):eabj0512. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abj0512.

Helle E, Ampuja M, Dainis A, Antola L, Temmes E, Tolvanen E, Mervaala E, Kivelä R. HiPS-Endothelial Cells Acquire Cardiac Endothelial Phenotype in Co-culture With hiPS-Cardiomyocytes. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021, Aug 6;9:715093. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.715093. eCollection 2021.

Hemanthakumar KA, Fang S, Anisimov A, Mäyränpää MI, Mervaala E, Kivelä R. Cardiovascular disease risk factors induce mesenchymal features and senescence in mouse cardiac endothelial cells. Elife 2021, Mar 4;10:e62678. doi: 10.7554/eLife.62678.

Huuska N, Netti E, Tulamo R, Lehti S, Jahromi BR, Kovanen PT, Niemelä M. Serum Amyloid A Is Present in Human Saccular Intracranial Aneurysm Walls and Associates With Aneurysm Rupture. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2021, 80:966-74.

Jiang C, Javed A, Kaiser L, Nava MM, Xu R, Brandt DT, Zhao D, Mayer B, Fernández-Baldovinos J, Zhou L, Höß C, Sawmynaden K, Oleksy A, Matthews D, Weinstein LS, Hahn H, Gröne HJ, Graumann PL, Niessen CM, Offermanns S, Wickström SA, Worzfeld T. Mechanochemical control of epidermal stem cell divisions by B-plexins. Nat Commun 2021, Feb 26;12(1):1308. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21513-9.

Karkamo V, Airas N, Lindén J, Hagner K, Mäyränpää MI, Kovanen PT, Sukura A, Kareinen I. Severe Spontaneous Atherosclerosis in two Korat Breed Cats is Comparable to Human Atherosclerosis. J Comp Pathol 2021, 188:52-61.

Koester J, Miroshnikova YA, Ghatak S, Chacón-Martínez CA, Morgner J, Li X, Atanassov I, Altmüller J, Birk DE, Koch M, Bloch W, Bartusel M, Niessen CM, Rada-Iglesias A, Wickström SA. Niche stiffening compromises hair follicle stem cell potential during ageing by reducing bivalent promoter accessibility. Nat Cell Biol 2021, 23:771-81.

Koistinen H, Künnapuu J, Jeltsch M. KLK3 in the Regulation of Angiogenesis-Tumorigenic or Not? Int J Mol Sci 2021, Dec 17;22(24):13545. doi: 10.3390/ijms222413545.

Kovanen PT, Raal F, Vuorio A. Patients with familial hypercholesterolemia and COVID-19: Efficient and ongoing cholesterol lowering is paramount for the prevention of acute myocardial infarction. Am J Prev Cardiol 2021, Sep;7:100224. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpc.2021.100224. Epub 2021 Jul 20.

Künnapuu J, Bokharaie H, Jeltsch M. Proteolytic cleavages in the VEGF family: Generating Diversity among angiogenic VEGFs, essential for the activation of lymphangiogenic VEGFs. Biology (Basel) 2021, Feb 23;10(2):167. doi: 10.3390/biology10020167.

Künnapuu J, Jeltsch M. Outside in and brakes off for lymphatic growth. Sci Signal 2021, Aug 10;14(695):eabj5058. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.abj5058.

Lappalainen J, Yeung N, Nguyen SD, Jauhiainen M, Kovanen PT, Lee-Rueckert M. Cholesterol loading suppresses the atheroinflammatory gene polarization of human macrophages induced by colony stimulating factors. Sci Rep 2021, Mar 1;11(1):4923. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-84249-y.

Lähde M, Heino S, Högström J, Kaijalainen S, Anisimov A, Flanagan D, Kallio P, Leppänen VM, Ristimäki A, Ritvos O, Wu K, Tammela T, Hodder M, Sansom OJ, Alitalo K. Expression of R-Spondin 1 in ApcMin/+ Mice Suppresses Growth of Intestinal Adenomas by Altering Wnt and Transforming Growth Factor Beta Signaling. Gastroenterology 2021, 160:245-59.

Maisel K, Hrusch CL, Medellin JEG, Potin L, Chapel DB, Nurmi H, Camacho DF, Gleyzer R, Alitalo K, Sperling AI, Swartz MA. Pro-lymphangiogenic VEGFR-3 signaling modulates memory T cell responses in allergic airway inflammation. Mucosal Immunol 2021, 14:144-151.

Maki K, Nava MM, Villeneuve C, Chang M, Furukawa KS, Ushida T, Wickström SA. Hydrostatic pressure prevents chondrocyte differentiation through heterochromatin remodeling. J Cell Sci 2021, Jan 27;134(2):jcs247643. doi: 10.1242/jcs.247643.

Miroshnikova YA, Manet S, Li X, Wickström SA, Faurobert E, Albiges-Rizo C. Calcium signaling mediates a biphasic mechanoadaptive response of endothelial cells to cyclic mechanical stretch. Mol Biol Cell2021, 32:1724-36.

Mäkinen T, Boon LM, Vikkula M, Alitalo K. Lymphatic Malformations: Genetics, Mechanisms and Therapeutic Strategies. Circ Res 2021, 129:136-54.

Nguyen SD, Korhonen EA, Lorey MB, Hakanpää L, Mäyränpää MI, Kovanen PT, Saharinen P, Alitalo K, Öörni K. Lysophosphatidylcholine in phospholipase A2-modified LDL triggers secretion of angiopoietin 2. Atherosclerosis 2021, 327:87-99.

Nissinen TA, Hentilä J, Fachada V, Lautaoja JH, Pasternack A, Ritvos O, Kivelä R, Hulmi JJ. Muscle follistatin gene delivery increases muscle protein synthesis independent of periodical physical inactivity and fasting. FASEB J 2021, Mar;35(3):e21387. doi: 10.1096/fj.202002008R.

Nuotio K, Koskinen SM, Mäkitie L, Tuimala J, Ijäs P, Heikkilä HM, Saksi J, Vikatmaa P, Sorto P, Kasari S, Paakkari I, Silvennoinen H, Valanne L, Mäyränpää MI, Soinne L, Kovanen PT, Lindsberg PJ. Warfarin Treatment Is Associated to Increased Internal Carotid Artery Calcification. Front Neurol 2021, Jul 12;12:696244. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2021.

Nurmi K, Niemi K, Kareinen I, Silventoinen K, Lorey MB, Chen Y, Kouri VP, Parantainen J, Juutilainen T, Öörni K, Kovanen PT, Nordström D, Matikainen S, Eklund KK. Native and oxidised lipoproteins negatively regulate the serum amyloid A-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation in human macrophages. Clin Transl Immunology 2021, Aug 3;10(8):e1323. doi: 10.1002/cti2.

Pedrelli M, Parini P, Kindberg J, Arnemo JM, Bjorkhem I, Aasa U, Westerståhl M, Walentinsson A, Pavanello C, Turri M, Calabresi L, Öörni K, Camejo G, Fröbert O, Hurt-Camejo E. Vasculoprotective properties of plasma lipoproteins from brown bears (Ursus arctos). J Lipid Res 2021, Mar 11;62:100065. doi: 10.1016/j.jlr.2021.100065.

Peters F, Wickström SA.  What doesn’t kill you makes you differentiate. Dev Cell 2021, 56:3303-4.

Radbakhsh S, Kovanen PT, Sahebkar A. Regulating NETosis: an emerging facet of statin pleiotropy. Drug Discov Today 2021, Dec 24:S1359-6446(21)00573-0. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2021.12.020. Editorial.

Ruuth M, Lahelma M, Luukkonen PK, Lorey MB, Qadri S, Sädevirta S, Hyötyläinen T, Kovanen PT, Hodson L, Yki-Järvinen H, Öörni K. Overfeeding Saturated Fat Increases LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein) Aggregation Susceptibility While Overfeeding Unsaturated Fat Decreases Proteoglycan-Binding of Lipoproteins. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2021, 41:2823-36.

Räsänen M, Sultan I, Paech J, Hemanthakumar KA, Yu W, He L, Tang J, Sun Y, Hlushchuk R, Huan X, Armstrong E, Khoma OZ, Mervaala E, Djonov V, Betsholtz C, Zhou B, Kivelä R, Alitalo K. VEGF-B promotes endocardium-derived coronary vessel development and cardiac regeneration. Circulation 2021, 143:65-77.

Shang R, Lal N, Lee C, Zhai Y, Puri K, Seira O, Boushel RC, Sultan I, Räsänen M, Alitalo K, Hussein B, Rodrigues B. Cardiac-specific VEGFB overexpression reduces lipoprotein lipase activity and improves insulin action in rat heart. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2021, Nov 8. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00219.2021.

Steffen HLM, Anderson JLC, Poot ML, Lei Y, Connelly MA, Bakker SJL, Öörni K, Tietge UJF. Proteoglycan-binding as pro-atherogenic function metric of apoB-containing lipoproteins and chronic kidney graft failure. J Lipid Res 2021, Apr 30:100083. doi: 10.1016/j.jlr.2021.100083.

Strandberg TE, Kovanen PT. Coronary artery disease: ‘gout’ in the artery? Eur Heart J 2021, 42:2761-4. Viewpoint.

Strandberg TE, Libby P, Kovanen PT. A tale of two therapies lipid-lowering vs. anti-inflammatory therapy: a false dichotomy? Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Pharmacother 2021, 7:238-41. Current opinion.

Syed S, Nissilä E, Ruhanen H, Fudo S, Gaytán MO, Sihvo SP, Lorey MB, Metso J, Öörni K, King SJ, Oommen OP, Jauhiainen M, Meri S, Käkelä R, Haapasalo K. Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumolysin and neuraminidase A convert high-density lipoproteins into pro-atherogenic particles. iScience 2021, May 12;24(6):102535. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102535. eCollection 2021 Jun 25.

Tayem R, Niemann C, Pesch M, Morgner J, Niessen CM, Wickström SA, Aumailley M. Laminin 332 Is Indispensable for Homeostatic Epidermal Differentiation Programs. J Invest Dermatol 2021, 141:2602-10.

Trela E, Lan Q, Myllymäki SM, Villeneuve C, Lindström R, Kumar V, Wickström SA, Mikkola ML. Cell influx and contractile actomyosin force drive mammary bud growth and invagination. J Cell Biol 2021, Aug 2;220(8):e202008062. doi: 10.1083/jcb.202008062.

Ulander L, Tolppanen H, Hartman O, Rissanen TT, Paakkanen R, Kuusisto J, Anttonen O, Nieminen T, Yrjölä J, Ryysy R, Drews T, Utriainen S, Karjalainen P, Anttila I, Nurmi K, Silventoinen K, Koskinen M, Kovanen PT, Lehtonen J, Eklund KK, Sinisalo J. Hydroxychloroquine reduces interleukin-6 levels after myocardial infarction: The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled OXI pilot trial. Int J Cardiol 2021, 337:21-7.

Vaahtomeri K, Moussion C, Hauschild R, Sixt M. Shape and function of interstitial Chemokine CCL21 gradients are independent of heparan sulfates produced by lymphatic endothelium. Front Immunol 2021, Feb 25;12:630002. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.630002. eCollection 2021.

Villeneuve C, Wickström SA. Shaping the stem cell field. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2021, May;22(5):305. doi: 10.1038/s41580-021-00347-9.

Vuorio A, Budowle B, Kovanen PT. Airborne particles and cardiovascular morbidity in severe inherited hypercholesterolemia: Vulnerable endothelium under multiple attacks.

Bioessays 2021, Dec 29:e2100273. doi: 10.1002/bies.202100273. Commentary.

Vuorio A, Kaste M, Kovanen PT. Familial hypercholesterolemia and statins in the COVID-19 era: Mitigating the risk of ischemic stroke. eNeurologicalSci 2021, Jun;23:100344. doi: 10.1016/j.ensci.2021.100344. Epub 2021 Apr 27. Letter to the Editor.

Vuorio A, Kaste M, Kovanen PT. Elevated Lipoprotein(a) and Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis in COVID-19. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 2021, May 10:105865. doi: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2021.105865. 

Vuorio A, Kovanen PT. PCSK9 inhibitors for COVID-19: an opportunity to enhance the antiviral action of interferon in patients with hypercholesterolaemia. J Intern Med 2021, 289:749-51. Letter to the Editor.

Vuorio A, Kovanen PT. Statins as adjuvant therapy for COVID-19 to calm the stormy immunothrombosis and beyond. Front Pharmacol 2021, Jan 19;11:579548. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.579548. Opinion.

Vuorio A, Kovanen PT. Comment on: “Prior Treatment with Statins is Associated with Improved Outcomes of Patients with COVID-19: Data from the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry”. Drugs 2021, 81:1125-7. Letter to the Editor.

Vuorio A, Kovanen PT. Mucormycosis and glucose-regulated protein 78 in COVID-19: amenable to statin treatment? J Intern Med 2021, 290:931-3. Letter.

Vuorio A, Kovanen PT, Santos RD, Raal F. Prevention of Cardiovascular Burden in COVID-19 Patients Suffering from Familial Hypercholesterolemia: A Global Challenge. Cardiol Ther 2021, Nov 17:1-7. doi: 10.1007/s40119-021-00245-3. Commentary.

Vuorio A, Kovanen PT, Strandberg TE. Older familial hypercholesterolemia patients with COVID-19. Gerontology 2021, 67:608-10. Commentary.

Vuorio A, Lassila R, Kovanen PT. Hypercholesterolemia and COVID-19: Statins for Lowering the Risk of Venous Thromboembolism. Front Cardiovasc Med 2021, Oct 13;8:711923. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2021.711923.Opinion

Vuorio A, Raal F, Kaste M, Kovanen PT. Familial hypercholesterolaemia and COVID-19: A two-hit scenario for endothelial dysfunction amenable to treatment. Atherosclerosis 2021, 320:53-60.

Vuorio A, Raal F, Klingel R, Kovanen PT. Why continued lipoprotein apheresis is vital for homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia patients with COVID-19. J Clin Lipidol 2021, 15:379-80. Letter to the Editor.

Vuorio A, Raal F, Kovanen PT. Hospitalized children with familial hypercholesterolemia and COVID-19: A case for preventive anticoagulation. Front Cardiovasc Med 2021, Apr 20;8:657719. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2021.657719. eCollection 2021. Opinion.

Vuorio A, Strandberg TE, Raal F, Santos RD, Kovanen PT. Familial hypercholesterolemia and COVID-19: A menacing but treatable vasculopathic condition. Atheroscler Plus 2021, 43:3-6.

Yamashita M, Niisato M, Kawasaki Y, Karaman S, Robciuc MR, Shibata Y, Ishida Y, Nishio R, Masuda T, Sugai T, Ono M, Tuder RM, Alitalo K, Yamauchi K.VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 signaling in macrophages ameliorates acute lung injury. Eur Respir J 2021, Aug 26:2100880. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00880-2021. Online ahead of print.

Ylivinkka I, Wickström SA. BETting against wound healing. Nat Chem Biol 2021, 17:233-5.

Öörni K, Kovanen PT. Aggregation susceptibility of low-density lipoproteins-A novel modifiable biomarker of cardiovascular risk. J Clin Med 2021, Apr 19;10(8):1769. doi: 10.3390/jcm10081769.

PhD Theses

Karthik Amudhala Hemanthakumar, PhD: Cardiac endothelial cells: potential therapeutic targets in heart disease, University of Helsinki.

Cedo L, Metso J, Santos D, García-León A, Plana N, Sabate-Soler S, Rotllan N, Rivas-Urbina A, Mendez-Lara KA, Tondo M, Girona J, Julve J, Pallarès V, Benitez-Amado A, Llorente Cortes V, Pérez A, Gómez-Coronado D, Ruotsalainen AK, Levonen AL, Sanchez-Quesada JL, Masana L, Kovanen PT, Jauhiainen MS, Lee-Rueckert M, Blanco-Vaca F, Escola-Gil JC. LDL Receptor regulates the reverse transport of macrophage-derived unesterified cholesterol via concerted action of the HDL-LDL axis: Insight from Mouse Models.  Circ Res 2020, 127:778-92.

Dekoninck S, Hannezo E, Sifrim A, Miroshnikova YA, Aragona M, Malfait M, Gargouri S, de Neunheuser C, Dubois C, Voet T, Wickström SA, Simons BD, Blanpain C. Defining the design principles of skin epidermis postnatal growth. Cell 2020, 81:604-20.

Elieh Ali Komi D, Shafaghat F, Kovanen PT, Meri S. Mast cells and complement system: Ancient interactions between components of innate immunity. Allergy 2020, 75:2818-28.

Eriksson H, Koskinen S, Nuotio K, Heikkilä HM, Vikatmaa P, Silvennoinen H, Valanne L, Mäyränpää MI, Kovanen PT, Soinne L, Lindsberg PJ, Ijäs P. Predictive factors for pre-operative recurrence of cerebrovascular symptoms in symptomatic carotid stenosis. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg 2020, 60:809-15.

Fang S, Chen S, Nurmi H, Leppänen VM, Jeltsch M, Scadden DT, Silberstein L, Mikkola H, Alitalo K. VEGF-C protects the integrity of bone marrow perivascular niche. Blood 2020, 136:1871-83.

Gylling H, Strandberg TE, Kovanen PT, Simonen P. Lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration with plant stanol esters to reduce the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events at a population level: A critical discussion. Nutrients 2020, 12:2346. doi: 10.3390/nu12082346.

Hartiala P, Suominen S, Suominen E, Kaartinen I, Kiiski J, Viitanen T, Alitalo K, Saarikko AM. Phase 1 Lymfactin Study: Short-term safety of combined adenoviral VEGF-C and lymph node transfer treatment for upper extremity lymphedema. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg 2020, 73:1612-21.

Helle E, Ampuja M, Antola L, Kivelä R. Flow-induced transcriptomic remodeling of endothelial cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells. Front Physiol 2020, Oct 15;11:591450. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.591450.

Hemanthakumar KA, Kivelä R. Angiogenesis and angiocrines regulating heart growth. Vasc Biol 2020, Jun 22;2(1):R93-R104. doi: 10.1530/VB-20-0006.

Hong SP, Yang MJ, Cho H, Park I, Bae H, Choe K, Suh SH, Adams RH, Alitalo K, Lim D, Koh GY Distinct fibroblast subsets regulate lacteal integrity through YAP/TAZ-induced VEGF-C in intestinal villi. Nat Commun 2020, 11:4102. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17886-y.

Houssari M, Dumesnil A, Tardif V, Kivelä R, Pizzinat N, Boukhalfa I, Godefroy D, Schapman D, Hemanthakumar KA, Bizou M, Henry JP, Renet S, Riou G, Rondeaux J, Anouar Y, Adriouch S, Fraineau S, Alitalo K, Richard V, Mulder P, Brakenhielm E. Lymphatic and immune cell cross-talk regulates cardiac recovery after experimental myocardial infarction. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2020, 40:1722-37.

Kallio P, Jokinen E, Högström J, Das S, Heino S, Lähde M, Brodkin J, Korhonen EA, Alitalo K. Blocking angiopoietin-2 promotes vascular damage and growth inhibition in mouse tumors treated with small doses of radiation. Cancer Res 2020, 80:2639-50.

Kim CS, Ding X, Allmeroth K, Biggs LC, Kolenc OI, L’Hoest N, Chacón-Martínez CA, Edlich-Muth C, Giavalisco P, Quinn KP, Denzel MS, Eming SA, Wickström SA. Glutamine metabolism controls stem cell fate reversibility and long-term maintenance in the hair follicle. Cell Metab 2020, 32:629-42.

Klems A, Van Rijssel J, Ramms A, Wild R, Hinkel R, Suarez-Martinez I, Schulte-Merker S, Vidal R, Sauer S, Kivelä R, Alitalo K, Kupatt C, Van Buul JD, Le Noble F. The GEF Trio controls endothelial cell size and arterial remodeling downstream of Vegf signaling in both zebrafish and cell models.  Nat Commun 2020, Oct 21;11(1):5319. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19008-0.

Lee-Rueckert M, Lappalainen J, Leinonen H, Plihtari R, Nordström T, Åkerman K, Öörni K, Kovanen PT. Acidic extracellular pH promotes accumulation of free cholesterol in human monocyte-derived macrophages via inhibition of ACAT1 activity. Atherosclerosis 2020, 312:1-7.

Leppänen V.-M, Brouillard P, Korhonen EA, Sipilä T, Jha SK, Revencu N, Labarque V, Fastré E, Schlögel M, Ravoet M, Singer A, Luzzatto C, Angelone D, Crichiutti G, D’Elia A, Kuurne J, Elamaa H, Koh GY, Saharinen P, Vikkula M, Alitalo K. Characterization of ANGPT2 mutations associated with primary lymphedema. Sci Transl Med 2020, Sep 9;12(560):eaax8013. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aax8013.

Li Z, Korhonen EA, Merlini A, Strauss J, Wihuri E, Nurmi H, Antila S, Paech J, Deutsch U, Engelhardt B, Chintharlapalli S, Koh GY, Flügel A, Alitalo K. Angiopoietin-2 blockade ameliorates autoimmune neuroinflammation by inhibiting leukocyte recruitment into the CNS. J Clin Invest 2020, 130:1977-90.

Licht T, Kreisel T, Biala Y, Mohan S, Yaari Y, Anisimov A, Alitalo K, Keshet E. Age-dependent remarkable regenerative potential of the dentate gyrus provided by intrinsic stem cells. J Neurosci 2020, 40:974-5.

Luukkonen PK, Tukiainen T, Juuti A, Sammalkorpi H, Haridas PAN, Niemelä O, Arola J, Orho-Melander M, Hakkarainen A, Kovanen PT, Dwivedi O, Groop L, Hodson L, Gastaldelli A, Hyötyläinen T, Orešič M, Yki-Järvinen H. Hydroxysteroid 17-β dehydrogenase 13 variant increases phospholipids and protects against fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. JCI Insight 2020, Mar 12;5(5):e132158. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.132158.

Lähteenvuo J, Hätinen OP, Kuivanen A, Huusko J, Paananen J, Lähteenvuo M, Nurro J, Hedman M, Hartikainen J, Laham-Karam N, Mäkinen P, Räsänen M, Alitalo K, Rosenzweig A, Ylä-Herttuala S. Susceptibility to cardiac arrhythmias and sympathetic nerve growth in VEGF-B overexpressing myocardium. Mol Ther 2020, 28:1731-40.

Mahjoubin-Tehran M, Kovanen PT, Xu S, Jamialahmadi T, Sahebkar A. Cyclodextrins: Potential therapeutics against atherosclerosis. Pharmacol Ther 2020, Jun 26:107620. doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2020.107620.

Martinez-Corral I, Zhang Y, Petkova M, Ortsäter H, Sjöberg S, Castillo SD, Brouillard P, Libbrecht L, Saur D, Graupera M, Alitalo K, Boon L, Vikkula M, Mäkinen T. Blockade of VEGF-C signaling inhibits lymphatic malformations driven by oncogenic PIK3CA mutation. Nat Commun 2020, Jun 8;11(1):2869. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16496-y.

Minniti ME, Pedrelli M, Vedin LL, Delbès AS, Denis RGP, Öörni K, Sala C, Pirazzini C, Thiagarajan D, Nurmi HJ, Grompe M, Mills K, Garagnani P, Ellis ECS, Strom SC, Luquet SH, Wilson EM, Bial J, Steffensen KR, Parini P. Insights from liver-humanized mice on cholesterol lipoprotein metabolism and LXR-agonist pharmacodynamics in humans. Hepatology 2020, 72:656-70.

Mukenge S, Jha SK, Catena M, Manara E, Leppänen VM, Lenti E, Negrini D, Bertelli M, Brendolan A, Jeltsch M, Aldrighetti L. Investigation on the role of biallelic variants in VEGF-C found in a patient affected by Milroy-like lymphedema. Mol Genet Genomic Med, 2020 Sep;8(9):e1389. doi: 10.1002/mgg3.1389.

Nava MM, Miroshnikova YA, Biggs LC, Whitefield DB, Metge F, Boucas J, Vihinen H, Jokitalo E, Li X, García Arcos JM, Hoffmann B, Merkel R, Niessen CM, Dahl KN, Wickström SA. Heterochromatin-driven nuclear softening protects the genome against mechanical stress-induced damage. Cell 2020, 181:800-17.

Paavonsalo S, Hariharan S, Lackman MH, Karaman S. Capillary rarefaction in obesity and metabolic diseases-organ-specificity and possible mechanisms. Cells 2020 Dec 14;9(12):2683. doi: 10.3390/cells9122683.

Peng B, Kopczynski D, Pratt BS, Ejsing CS, Burla B, Hermansson M, Benke PI, Tan SH, Chan MY, Torta F, Schwudke D, Meckelmann SW, Coman C, Schmitz OJ, MacLean B, Manke MC, Borst O, Wenk MR, Hoffmann N, Ahrends R. LipidCreator workbench to probe the lipidomic landscape. Nat Commun 2020, Apr 28;11(1):2057. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15960-z.

Punovuori K, Wickström SA. How cancer invasion takes shape. Nature 2020, 585:355-6.  Comment.

Ruuth M, Äikäs L, Tigistu-Sahle F, Käkelä R, Lindholm H, Simonen P, Kovanen PT, Gylling H, Öörni K. Plant stanol esters reduce LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein) aggregation by altering LDL surface lipids: The BLOOD FLOW randomized intervention study. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2020, 40:2310-21.

Somerharju P, Virtanen JA, Hermansson M. Hypothesis: Chemical activity regulates and coordinates the processes maintaining glycerophospholipid homeostasis in mammalian cells. FASEB Bioadv 2020, 2:182-7.

Song E, Mao T, Dong H, Boisserand LSB, Antila S, Bosenberg M, Alitalo K, Thomas JL, Iwasaki A. VEGF-C-driven lymphatic drainage enables immunosurveillance of brain tumours. Nature 2020, 577:689-94.

Tajbakhsh A, Kovanen PT, Rezaee M, Banach M, Moallem SA, Sahebkar A. Regulation of efferocytosis by caspase-dependent apoptotic cell death in atherosclerosis. Int J Biochem Cell Biol 2020, Mar;120:105684. doi: 10.1016/j.biocel.2020.105684.

Vaahtomeri K, Alitalo K.  Lymphatic vessels in tumor dissemination vs. immunotherapy. Cancer Res 2020, 80:3463-5.

Valent P, Akin C, Hartmann K, Nilsson G, Reiter A, Hermine O, Sotlar K, Sperr WR, Escribano L, George TI, Kluin-Nelemans HC, Ustun C, Triggiani M, Brockow K, Gotlib J, Orfao A, Kovanen PT, Hadzijusufovic E, Sadovnik I, Horny HP, Arock M, Schwartz LB, Austen KF, Metcalfe DD, Galli SJ. Mast cells as a unique hematopoietic lineage and cell system: From Paul Ehrlich’s visions to precision medicine concepts. Theranostics 2020, 10:10743-68.

Varricchi G, Marone G, Kovanen PT. Cardiac mast cells: Underappreciated immune cells in cardiovascular homeostasis and disease. Trends Immunol 2020, 41:734-46.

Vuorio A, Kovanen PT. Prevention of endothelial dysfunction and thrombotic events in COVID-19 patients with familial hypercholesterolemia. J Clin Lipidol 2020, 14:617-8.

Vuorio A, Watts GF, Kovanen PT. Familial hypercholesterolaemia and COVID-19: triggering of increased sustained cardiovascular risk. J Intern Med 2020, 287:746-7. Letter to the Editor.

Vuorio A, Watts GF, Schneider WJ, Tsimikas S, Kovanen PT. Familial hypercholesterolemia and elevated lipoprotein(a): double heritable risk and new therapeutic opportunities. J Intern Med 2020, 287:2-18.

Zhang Y, Cedervall J, Hamidi A, Herre M, Viitaniemi K, D’Amico G, Miao Z, Valsala Madhavan Unnithan R, Vaccaro A, van Hooren L, Georganaki M, Thulin Å, Qiao Q, Andrae J, Siegbahn A, Heldin CH, Alitalo K, Betsholtz C, Dimberg A, Olsson AK. Platelet-specific PDGFB ablation impairs tumor vessel integrity and promotes metastasis. Cancer Res 2020, 80:3345-58.

Öörni K, Jauhiainen M, Kovanen PT. Why and how increased plasma ceramides predict future cardiovascular events? Atherosclerosis. 2020, 314:71-3. Editorial.

PhD Theses

Sawan Kumar Jha, PhD: Mechanism of VEGF-C activation and effect on lymphatic vessel growth and regeneration, University of Helsinki.

Emilia Korhonen, PhD: The endothelial angiopoietin-Tie signaling pathway in development and disease, University of Helsinki.

Maija Ruuth, PhD: LDL aggregation susceptibility as a novel risk factor for atherosclerosis, University of Helsinki.

Abdolmaleki F, Kovanen PT, Mardani R, Gheibi-Hayat SM, Bo S, Sahebkar A. Resolvins: Emerging llayers in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol 2019, Jul 2: doi: 10.1007/s12016-019-08754-9.

Banach M, Bruckert E, Descamps OS, Ellegård L, Ezhov M, Föger B, Fras Z, Kovanen PT, Latkovskis G, März W, Panagiotakos DB, Paragh G, Pella D, Pirillo A, Poli A, Reiner Ž, Silbernagel G, Viigimaa M, Vrablík M, Catapano AL. The role of red yeast rice (RYR) supplementation in plasma cholesterol control: A review and expert opinion. Atheroscler Suppl 2019 Aug 17. pii: S1567-5688(19)30046 doi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosissup.

Biggs LC, Kim CS, Miroshnikova YA, Wickström SA. Mechanical forces in the skin: roles in tissue architecture, stability, and function. J Invest Dermatol 2019 Jul 18: pii: S0022-202X(19)32534-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2019.06.137

Brakenhielm E, Alitalo K. Cardiac lymphatics in health and disease. Nat Rev Cardiol 2019, 16:56-68.

Bäck M, Yurdagul A Jr, Tabas I, Öörni K, Kovanen PT. Inflammation and its resolution in atherosclerosis: mediators and therapeutic opportunities. Nat Rev Cardiol 2019, 16:389-406.

Crona DJ, Skol AD, Leppänen VM, Glubb DM, Etheridge AS, Hilliard E, Peña CE, Peterson YK, Klauber-DeMore N, Alitalo KK, Innocenti F. Genetic variants of VEGFA and FLT4 are determinants of survival in renal cell carcinoma patients treated with sorafenib. Cancer Res 2019, 79:231-41.

Ding X, Willenborg S, Bloch W, Wickström SA, Wagle P, Brodesser S, Roers A, Jais A, Brüning JC, Hall MN, Rüegg MA, Eming SA. Epidermal mTORC2 controls lipid synthesis and filaggrin processing in epidermal barrier formation. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2019 Aug 8: pii: S0091-6749(19)31029-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2019.07.033.

Jacob L, Boisserand LSB, Geraldo LHM, de Brito Neto J, Mathivet T, Antila S, Barka B, Xu Y, Thomas JM, Pestel J, Aigrot MS, Song E, Nurmi H, Lee S, Alitalo K, Renier N, Eichmann A, Thomas JL. Anatomy and function of the vertebral column lymphatic network in mice. Nat Commun 2019 Oct 9;10(1):4594. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-12568-w

Jha SK, Rauniyar K, Chronowska E, Mattonet K, Maina EW, Koistinen H, Stenman UH, Alitalo K, Jeltsch M. KLK3/PSA and cathepsin D activate VEGF-C and VEGF-D. Elife 2019 May 17, 8: pii: e44478. doi: 10.7554/eLife.44478.

Kivelä R, Hemanthakumar KA, Vaparanta K, Robciuc M, Izumiya Y, Kidoya H, Takakura N, Peng X, Sawyer DB, Elenius K, Walsh K, Alitalo K. Endothelial cells regulate physiological cardiomyocyte growth via VEGFR2 -mediated paracrine signaling. Circulation 2019, 139:2570-84.

Kovanen PT. Mast cells as potential accelerators of human atherosclerosis – from early to late lesions. Int J Mol Sci 2019, 20(18). pii: E4479. doi: 10.3390/ijms20184479.

Le Joncour V, Karaman S, Laakkonen PM. Predicting In vivo payloads delivery using a blood-brain tumor-barrier in a dish. J Vis Exp 2019 Apr 16: doi: 10.3791/59384.

Liangsupree T, Multia E, Metso J, Jauhiainen M, Forssén P, Fornstedt T, Öörni K, Podgornik A, Riekkola ML. Rapid affinity chromatographic isolation method for LDL in human plasma by immobilized chondroitin-6-sulfate and anti-apoB-100 antibody monolithic disks in tandem. Sci Rep 2019 Aug 2, 9:11235. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-47750-z.

Magga J, Vainio L, Kilpiö T, Hulmi JJ, Taponen S, Lin R, Räsänen M, Szabó Z, Gao E, Rahtu-Korpela L, Alakoski T, Ulvila J, Laitinen M, Pasternack A, Koch WJ, Alitalo K, Kivelä R, Ritvos O, Kerkelä R. Systemic blockade of ACVR2B ligands protects myocardium from acute ischemia-reperfusion injury. Mol Ther 2019, 27:600-10.

Manninen S, Lankinen M, Erkkilä A, Nguyen SD, Ruuth M, de Mello V, Öörni K, Schwab U. The effect of intakes of fish and Camelina sativa oil on atherogenic and anti-atherogenic functions of LDL and HDL particles: A randomized controlled trial. Atherosclerosis 2019, 281:56-61.

Miroshnikova YA, Cohen I, Ezhkova E, Wickström SA. Epigenetic gene regulation, chromatin structure, and force-induced chromatin remodelling in epidermal development and homeostasis. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2019, 55:46-51.

Miroshnikova YA, Hammesfahr T, Wickström SA. Cell biology and mechanopathology of laminopathic cardiomyopathies. J Cell Biol 2019, 218:393-4.

Mohajeri M, Kovanen PT, Bianconi V, Pirro M, Cicero AFG, Sahebkar A. Mast cell tryptase – marker and maker of cardiovascular diseases. Pharmacol Ther 2019, 199:91-110.

Onions KL, Gamez M, Buckner NR, Baker SL, Betteridge KB, Desideri S, Dallyn BP, Ramnath RD, Neal CR, Farmer LK, Mathieson PW, Gnudi L, Alitalo K, Bates DO, Salmon AHJ, Welsh GI, Satchell SC, Foster RR. VEGFC reduces glomerular albumin permeability and protects against alterations in VEGF receptor expression in diabetic nephropathy. Diabetes 2019, 68:172-87.

Ou HL, Kim CS, Uszkoreit S, Wickström SA, Schumacher B. Somatic niche cells regulate the CEP-1/p53-mediated DNA damage response in primordial germ cells. Dev Cell 2019, 50:167-183.

Patel TK, Habimana-Griffin L, Gao X, Xu B, Achilefu S, Alitalo K, McKee CA, Sheehan PW, Musiek ES, Xiong C, Coble D, Holtzman DM. Dural lymphatics regulate clearance of extracellular tau from the CNS. Mol Neurodegener 2019, 14:11. doi: 10.1186. IF=8.274

Ruuth M, Janssen LGM, Äikäs L, Tigistu-Sahle F, Nahon KJ, Ritvos O, Ruhanen H, Käkelä R, Boon MR, Öörni K, Rensen PCN. LDL aggregation susceptibility is higher in healthy South Asian compared with white Caucasian men. J Clin Lipidol 2019, 13:910-19.

Suh SH, Choe K, Hong SP, Jeong SH, Mäkinen T, Kim KS, Alitalo K, Surh CD, Koh GY, Song JH. Gut microbiota regulates lacteal integrity by inducing VEGF-C in intestinal villus macrophages. EMBO Rep 2019 Feb 19. pii: e46927. doi: 10.15252.

Talwelkar SS, S Nagaraj A, Devlin JR, Hemmes A, Potdar S, Kiss EA, Saharinen P, Salmenkivi K, Mäyränpää MI, Wennerberg K, Verschuren EW. Receptor tyrosine kinase signaling networks define sensitivity to ERBB inhibition and stratify Kras mutant lung cancers. Mol Cancer Ther 2019,  Jul 18. pii: molcanther.0573.2018. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-18-0573.

Tiainen L, Korhonen EA, Leppänen VM, Luukkaala T, Hämäläinen M, Tanner M, Lahdenperä O, Vihinen P, Jukkola A, Karihtala P, Aho S, Moilanen E, Alitalo K, Kellokumpu-Lehtinen PL. High baseline Tie1 level predicts poor survival in metastatic breast cancer. BMC Cancer 2019, Jul 24:19:732. doi: 10.1186/s12885-019-5959-8.

Vuorio A, Kuoppala J, Kovanen PT, Humphries SE, Tonstad S, Wiegman A, Drogari E, Ramaswami U Statins for children with familial hypercholesterolemia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2019, Nov 7;2019(11). doi: 10.1002/14651858.

Vuorio A, Watts GF, Kovanen PT. Lipoprotein(a) as a risk factor for calcific aortic valvulopathy in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Atherosclerosis 2019, 281:25-30.

Wickström SA, Roca-Cusachs P. Special issue on “mechanotransduction in cell fate determination” – From molecular switches to organ-level regulation. Exp Cell Res 2019, Sep 1, 382:111452. doi: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2019.05.033.

Öörni K, Lehti S, Sjövall P, Kovanen PT. Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins as a source of proinflammatory lipids in the arterial wall. Curr Med Chem 2019, 26:1701-10.

PhD Thesis

Markus Räsänen MD, PhD: Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-B and the Bmx tyrosine kinase in cardiac hypertrophy and revascularization, University of Helsinki.

Ahmed O, Littmann K, Gustafsson U, Pramfalk C, Öörni K, Larsson L, Minniti ME, Sahlin S, Camejo G, Parini P, Eriksson M. Ezetimibe in combination with simvastatin reduces remnant cholesterol without affecting biliary lipid concentrations in gallstone patients. J Am Heart Assoc 2018;7:e009876. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.118.009876.

Bianconi V, Sahebkar A, Kovanen P, Bagaglia F, Ricciuti B, Calabrò P, Patti G, Pirro M. Endothelial and cardiac progenitor cells for cardiovascular repair: A controversial paradigm in cell therapy. Pharmacol Ther 2018;181:156-68.

Cedó L, Plana N, Metso J, Lee-Rueckert M, Sanchez-Quesada JL, Kovanen PT, Jauhiainen M, Masana L, Escolà-Gil JC, Blanco-Vaca F. Altered HDL remodeling and functionality in familial hypercholesterolemia. J Am Coll Cardiol 2018;71:466-8. Letters.

Chacón-Martínez CA, Koester J, Wickström SA. Signaling in the stem cell niche: regulating cell fate, function and plasticity. Development 2018, 145. pii: dev165399. doi: 10.1242/dev.165399

Durré T, Morfoisse F, Erpicum C, Ebroin M, Blacher S, García-Caballero M, Deroanne C, Louis T, Balsat C, Van de Velde M, Kaijalainen S, Kridelka F, Engelholm L, Struman I, Alitalo K, Behrendt N, Paupert J, Noel A. uPARAP/Endo180 receptor is a gatekeeper of VEGFR-2/VEGFR-3 heterodimerisation during pathological lymphangiogenesis. Nat Commun 2018;9:5178. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-07514-1.

Ganjali S, Momtazi-Borojeni AA, Banach M, Kovanen PT, Gotto AM Jr, Sahebkar A. HDL functionality in familial hypercholesterolemia: effects of treatment modalities and pharmacological interventions. Drug Discov Today 2018;23:171-80. Review.

Gramolelli S, Cheng J, Martinez-Corral I, Vähä-Koskela M, Elbasani E, Kaivanto E, Rantanen V, Tuohinto K, Hautaniemi S, Bower M, Haglund C, Alitalo K, Mäkinen T, Petrova TV, Lehti K, Ojala PM. PROX1 is a transcriptional regulator of MMP14. Sci Rep 2018;8:9531. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-27739-w.

Hakanpaa L, Kiss EA, Jacquemet G, Miinalainen I, Lerche M, Guzmán C, Mervaala E, Eklund L, Ivaska J, Saharinen P. Targeting β1-integrin inhibits vascular leakage in endotoxemia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2018;115:E6467-76.

He L, Vanlandewijck M, Mäe MA, Andrae J, Ando K, Del Gaudio F, Nahar K, Lebouvier T, Laviña B, Gouveia L, Sun Y, Raschperger E, Segerstolpe Å, Liu J, Gustafsson S, Räsänen M, Zarb Y, Mochizuki N, Keller A, Lendahl U, Betsholtz C. Single-cell RNA sequencing of mouse brain and lung vascular and vessel-associated cell types. Sci Data 2018;5:180160. doi: 10.1038

Hilvo M, Simolin H, Metso J, Ruuth M, Öörni K, Jauhiainen M, Laaksonen R, Baruch A. PCSK9 inhibition alters the lipidome of plasma and lipoprotein fractions. Atherosclerosis 2018;269:159-65.

Hominick D, Silva A, Khurana N, Liu Y, Dechow PC, Feng JQ, Pytowski B, Rutkowski JM, Alitalo K, Dellinger MT. VEGF-C promotes the development of lymphatics in bone and bone loss. Elife 2018;7. pii: e34323. doi: 10.7554/eLife.34323.

Hulmi JJ, Nissinen TA, Räsänen M, Degerman J, Lautaoja JH, Hemanthakumar KA, Backman JT, Ritvos O, Silvennoinen M, Kivelä R. Prevention of chemotherapy-induced cachexia by ACVR2B ligand blocking has different effects on heart and skeletal muscle. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 2018;9:417-32.

Hytönen JP, Taavitsainen J, Laitinen JTT, Partanen A, Alitalo K, Leppänen O, Ylä-Herttuala S. Local adventitial anti-angiogenic gene therapy reduces growth of vasa-vasorum and in-stent restenosis in WHHL rabbits. J Mol Cell Cardiol 2018;121:145-54.

Högström J, Heino S, Kallio P, Lähde M, Leppänen VM, Balboa D, Wiener Z, Alitalo K. Transcription factor PROX1 suppresses Notch pathway activation via the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase complex in colorectal cancer stem-like cells. Cancer Res 2018;78:5820-32.

Jha SK, Rauniyar K, Jeltsch M. Key molecules in lymphatic development, function, and identification. Ann Anat 2018;219:25-34.

Karaman S, Leppänen VM, Alitalo K. Vascular endothelial growth factor signaling in development and disease. Development 2018;145. pii: dev151019. doi: 10.1242/dev.151019.

Karaman S, Nurmi H, Antila S, Alitalo K. Stimulation and inhibition of lymphangiogenesis via adeno-associated viral gene delivery. In book: Methods in Molecular Biology, Lymphangiogenesis (Oliver G, Kahn ML eds.) Humana Press 2018;1846:pp.291-300.

Kareinen I, Baumann M, Nguyen SD, Maaninka K, Anisimov A, Tozuka M, Jauhiainen M, Lee-Rueckert M, Kovanen PT. Chymase released from hypoxia-activated cardiac mast cells cleaves human apoA-I at Tyr192 and compromises its cardioprotective activity. J Lipid Res 2018;59:945-57.

Lehti S, Nguyen SD, Belevich I, Vihinen H, Heikkilä HM, Soliymani R, Käkelä R, Saksi J, Jauhiainen M, Grabowski GA, Kummu O, Hörkkö S, Baumann M, Lindsberg PJ, Jokitalo E, Kovanen PT, Öörni K. Extracellular lipids accumulate in human carotid arteries as distinct three-dimensional structures and have proinflammatory properties. Am J Pathol 2018;188:525-38.

Lorenz L, Axnick J, Buschmann T, Henning C, Urner S, Fang S, Nurmi H, Eichhorst N, Holtmeier R, Bódis K, Hwang JH, Müssig K, Eberhard D, Stypmann J, Kuss O, Roden M, Alitalo K, Häussinger D, Lammert E. Mechanosensing by β1 integrin induces angiocrine signals for liver growth and survival. Nature 2018;562:128-32.

Maaninka K, Nguyen SD, Mäyränpää MI, Plihtari R, Rajamäki K, Lindsberg PJ, Kovanen PT, Öörni K. Human mast cell neutral proteases generate modified LDL particles with increased proteoglycan binding. Atherosclerosis 2018;275:390-9.

Manninen S, Lankinen M, Erkkilä A, Nguyen SD, Ruuth M, de Mello V, Öörni K, Schwab U. The effect of intakes of fish and Camelina sativa oil on atherogenic and anti-atherogenic functions of LDL and HDL particles: A randomized controlled trial. Atherosclerosis 2018, 281:56-61.

Nissilä E, Hakala P, Leskinen K, Roig A, Syed S, Van Kessel KPM, Metso J, De Haas CJC, Saavalainen P, Meri S, Chroni A, Van Strijp JAG, Öörni K, Jauhiainen M, Jokiranta TS, Haapasalo K. Complement Factor H and apolipoprotein E participate in regulation of inflammation in THP-1 macrophages. Front Immunol 2018;9:2701. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.02701. eCollection 2018.

Nissinen TA, Hentilä J, Penna F, Lampinen A, Lautaoja JH, Fachada V, Holopainen T, Ritvos O, Kivelä R, Hulmi JJ. Treating cachexia using soluble ACVR2B improves survival, alters mTOR localization, and attenuates liver and spleen responses. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 2018;9:514-29.

Nowak-Sliwinska P, Alitalo K, Allen E, Anisimov A, Aplin AC, Auerbach R, Augustin HG, Bates DO, van Beijnum JR, Bender RHF, Bergers G, Bikfalvi A, Bischoff J, Böck BC, Brooks PC, Bussolino F, Cakir B, Carmeliet P, Castranova D, Cimpean AM, Cleaver O, Coukos G, Davis GE, De Palma M, Dimberg A, Dings RPM, Djonov V, Dudley AC, Dufton NP, Fendt SM, Ferrara N, Fruttiger M, Fukumura D, Ghesquière B, Gong Y, Griffin RJ, Harris AL, Hughes CCW, Hultgren NW, Iruela-Arispe ML, Irving M, Jain RK, Kalluri R, Kalucka J, Kerbel RS, Kitajewski J, Klaassen I, Kleinmann HK, Koolwijk P, Kuczynski E, Kwak BR, Marien K, Melero-Martin JM, Munn LL, Nicosia RF, Noel A, Nurro J, Olsson AK, Petrova TV, Pietras K, Pili R, Pollard JW, Post MJ, Quax PHA, Rabinovich GA, Raica M, Randi AM, Ribatti D, Ruegg C, Schlingemann RO, Schulte-Merker S, Smith LEH, Song JW, Stacker SA, Stalin J, Stratman AN, Van de Velde M, van Hinsbergh VWM, Vermeulen PB, Waltenberger J, Weinstein BM, Xin H, Yetkin-Arik B, Yla-Herttuala S, Yoder MC, Griffioen AW. Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays. Angiogenesis 2018;21:425-532.

Nuotio K, Ijäs P, Heikkilä HM, Koskinen SM, Saksi J, Vikatmaa P, Sorto P, Mäkitie L, Eriksson H, Kasari S, Silvennoinen H, Valanne L, Mäyränpää MI, Kovanen PT, Soinne L, Lindsberg PJ. Morphology and histology of silent and symptom-causing atherosclerotic carotid plaques – Rationale and design of the Helsinki Carotid Endarterectomy Study 2 (the HeCES2). Ann Med 2018;50:501-10.

Ollikainen E, Tulamo R, Kaitainen S, Honkanen P, Lehti S, Liimatainen T, Hernesniemi J, Niemelä M, Kovanen PT, Frösen J. Macrophage infiltration in the saccular intracranial aneurysm wall as a response to locally lysed erythrocytes that promote degeneration. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2018;77:890-903.

Ollikainen E, Tulamo R, Lehti S, Hernesniemi J, Niemelä M, Kovanen PT, Frösen J. Myeloperoxidase associates with degenerative remodeling and rupture of the saccular intracranial aneurysm wall. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2018;77:461-8.

Pekkonen P, Alve S, Balistreri G, Gramolelli S, Tatti-Bugaeva O, Paatero I, Niiranen O, Tuohinto K, Perälä N, Taiwo A, Zinovkina N, Repo P, Icay K, Ivaska J, Saharinen P, Hautaniemi S, Lehti K, Ojala PM. Lymphatic endothelium stimulates melanoma metastasis and invasion via MMP14-dependent Notch3 and β1-integrin activation. Elife 2018;7. pii: e32490. doi: 10.7554/eLife.32490.

Rauniyar K, Jha SK, Jeltsch M. Biology of vascular endothelial growth factor C in the morphogenesis of lymphatic vessels. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2018;6:7. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2018.00007. eCollection.

Ruuth M, Nguyen SD, Vihervaara T, Hilvo M, Laajala TD, Kondadi PK, Gisterå A, Lähteenmäki H, Kittilä T, Huusko J, Uusitupa M, Schwab U, Savolainen MJ, Sinisalo J, Lokki ML, Nieminen MS, Jula A, Perola M, Ylä-Herttula S, Rudel L, Öörni A, Baumann M, Baruch A, Laaksonen R, Ketelhuth DFJ, Aittokallio T, Jauhiainen M, Käkelä R, Borén J, Williams KJ, Kovanen PT, Öörni K. Susceptibility of low-density lipoprotein particles to aggregate depends on particle lipidome, is modifiable, and associates with future cardiovascular deaths. Eur Heart J  2018;39:2562-73.

Ruuth M, Soronen J, Kaiharju E, Merikanto K, Perttilä J, Metso J, Lee-Rueckert M, Taskinen M-T, Kovanen PT, Öörni K, Olkkonen VM, Jauhiainen MS,  Laurila P-P. USF1 deficiency alleviates inflammation, enhances cholesterol efflux and prevents cholesterol accumulation in macrophages. Lipids Health Dis 2018;17:285, doi.org/10.1186/s12944-018-0930-2.

Sahebkar A, Simental-Mendía LE, Kovanen PT, Pedone C, Simental-Mendía M, Cicero AFG. Effects of orlistat on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 27 randomized controlled clinical trials. J Am Soc Hypertens 2018;12:80-96.

Tajbakhsh A, Rezaee M, Kovanen PT, Sahebkar A. Efferocytosis in atherosclerotic lesions: Malfunctioning regulatory pathways and control mechanisms. Pharmacol Ther 2018;188:12-25.

Talman V, Kivelä R. Cardiomyocyte-endothelial cell interactions in cardiac remodeling and regeneration. Front Cardiovasc Med 2018;5:101. doi: 10.3389.

Vanlandewijck M, He L, Mäe MA, Andrae J, Ando K, Del Gaudio F, Nahar K, Lebouvier T, Laviña B, Gouveia L, Sun Y, Raschperger E, Räsänen M, Zarb Y, Mochizuki N, Keller A, Lendahl U, Betsholtz C. A molecular atlas of cell types and zonation in the brain vasculature. Nature 2018;554:475-80.

Vuorio A, Kovanen PT. Decreasing the cholesterol burden in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia children by dietary plant stanol esters. Nutrients 2018;10. pii: E1842. doi: 10.3390/nu10121842.

Vuorio A, Watts GF, Kovanen PT.Lipoprotein(a) as a risk factor for calcific aortic valvulopathy in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Atherosclerosis 2018;281:25-30.

Wickström SA, Niessen CM. Cell adhesion and mechanics as drivers of tissue organization and differentiation: local cues for large scale organization. Curr Opin Cell Biol 2018, 54:89-97.

Zhang Y, Ulvmar MH, Stanczuk L, Martinez-Corral I, Frye M, Alitalo K, Mäkinen T. Heterogeneity in VEGFR3 levels drives lymphatic vessel hyperplasia through cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous mechanisms. Nat Commun 2018;9:1296. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-03692-0.

PhD Theses

Krista Heinolainen,  PhD: Analysis of vascular endothelial growth factor – receptor functions in gene-targeted mice, University of Helsinki.

Katariina Maaninka, PhD: Atheroinflammatory properties of LDL and HDL particles modified by human mast cell neutral proteases, University of Helsinki.

Antila S, Karaman S, Nurmi H, Airavaara M, Voutilainen MH, Mathivet T, Chilov D, Li Z, Koppinen T, Park JH, Fang S, Aspelund A, Saarma M, Eichmann A, Thomas JL, Alitalo K. Development and plasticity of meningeal lymphatic vessels. J Exp Med 2017;214:3645-67.

Cedó L, Santos D, Ludwig IA, Silvennoinen R, García-León A, Kaipiainen L, Carbó JM, Valledor AF, Gylling H, Motilva MJ, Kovanen PT, Lee-Rueckert M, Blanco-Vaca F, Escolà-Gil JC. Phytosterol-mediated inhibition of intestinal cholesterol absorption in mice is independent of liver X receptor. Mol Nutr Food Res 2017 Mar 15. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201700055.

Eklund L, Kangas J, Saharinen P. Angiopoietin-Tie signalling in the cardiovascular and lymphatic systems. Clin Sci (Lond) 2017;131:87-103.

Ganjali S, Momtazi AA, Banach M, Kovanen PT, Stein EA, Sahebkar A. HDL abnormalities in familial hypercholesterolemia: Focus on biological functions. Prog Lipid Res 2017;67:16-26.

Hartman O, Kovanen PT, Lehtonen J, Eklund KK, Sinisalo J. Hydroxychloroquine for the prevention of recurrent cardiovascular events in myocardial infarction patients: rationale and design of the OXI trial. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Pharmacother 2017;3:92-7.

Hartman O, Sinisalo J, Kovanen PT, Lehtonen J, Eklund KK. Congestive heart failure: more common as well as an important cardiovascular outcome: reply. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Pharmacother 2017;3:99.

Heinolainen K, Karaman S, D’Amico G, Tammela T, Sormunen R, Eklund L, Alitalo K, Zarkada G.VEGFR3 modulates vascular permeability by controlling VEGF/VEGFR2 signaling. Circ Res 2017;120:1414-25.

Jang JY, Choi SY, Park I, Park DY, Choe K, Kim P, Kim YK, Lee BJ, Hirashima M, Kubota Y, Park JW, Cheng SY, Nagy A, Park YJ, Alitalo K, Shong M, Koh GY. VEGFR2 but not VEGFR3 governs integrity and remodeling of thyroid angiofollicular unit in normal state and during goitrogenesis. EMBO Mol Med 2017;9:750-69.

Jha SK, Rauniyar K, Karpanen T, Leppänen VM, Brouillard P, Vikkula M, Alitalo K, Jeltsch M. Efficient activation of the lymphangiogenic growth factor VEGF-C requires the C-terminal domain of VEGF-C and the N-terminal domain of CCBE1. Sci Rep 2017;7:4916. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-04982-1.

Karaman S, Alitalo K. ORAI1 controls the unique adjustment of lymphatics to fluid flow. Circ Res 2017;120:1373-5.

Karaman S, Alitalo K. Midkine and Melanoma Metastasis: A Malevolent Mix. Dev Cell 2017:7;42:205-7.

Kivelä R, Alitalo K. White adipose tissue coloring by intermittent fasting. Cell Res 2017;27:1300-1. (Research Highlight)

Kovanen PT, Bot I. Mast cells in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease – Activators and actions. Eur J Pharmacol 2017;816:37-46.

Lampinen AM, Virman JP, Bono P, Luukkaala TH, Sunela KL, Kujala PM, Saharinen P, Kellokumpu-Lehtinen PI. Novel angiogenesis markers as long-term prognostic factors in patients with renal cell cancer. Clin Genitourin Cancer 2017;15:e15-e24.

Leppänen VM, Saharinen P, Alitalo K. Structural basis of Tie2 activation and Tie2/Tie1 heterodimerization. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017;114:4376-81.

Lohela M, Alitalo K. Fighting vessel dysmorphia to improve glioma chemotherapy. EMBO Mol Med 2017;9:1626-8.

Louveau A, Plog BA, Antila S, Alitalo K, Nedergaard M,4, Kipnis J. Understanding the functions and relationships of the glymphatic system and meningeal lymphatics. J Clin Invest 2017;127:3210-9.

Multia E, Sirén H, Andersson K, Samuelsson J, Forssén P, Fornstedt T, Öörni K, Jauhiainen M, Riekkola ML. Thermodynamic and kinetic approaches for evaluation of monoclonal antibody – Lipoprotein interactions. Anal Biochem 2017;518:25-34.

Naumenko N, Huusko J, Tuomainen T, Koivumäki JT, Merentie M, Gurzeler E, Alitalo K, Kivelä R, Ylä-Herttuala S, Tavi P. Vascular endothelial growth factor-B induces a distinct electrophysiological phenotype in mouse heart. Front Physiol 2017;8:373. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2017.00373. eCollection 2017.

Nitschké M, Bell A, Karaman S, Amouzgar M, Rutkowski JM, Scherer PE, Alitalo K, McDonald DM.Retrograde lymph flow leads to chylothorax in transgenic mice with lymphatic malformations. Am J Pathol 2017;187:1984-97.

Nurmi K, Kareinen I, Virkanen J, Rajamäki K, Kouri VP, Vaali K, Levonen AL, Fyhrquist N, Matikainen S, Kovanen PT, Eklund KK. Hemin and cobalt protoporphyrin inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation by enhancing autophagy: A novel mechanism of inflammasome regulation. J Innate Immun 2017;9:65-82.

Rademakers T, van der Vorst EP, Daissormont IT, Otten JJ, Theodorou K, Theelen TL, Gijbels M, Anisimov A, Nurmi H, Lindeman JH, Schober A, Heeneman S, Alitalo K, Biessen EA. Adventitial lymphatic capillary expansion impacts on plaque T cell accumulation in atherosclerosis. Sci Rep 2017;7:45263. doi: 10.1038/srep45263.

Saharinen P, Eklund L, Alitalo K. Therapeutic targeting of the angiopoietin-TIE pathway. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2017;16:635-61.

Saharinen P, Leppänen VM, Alitalo K. SnapShot: Angiopoietins and Their Functions. Cell 2017;171:724-724.e1.

Sahebkar A, Simental-Mendía LE, Reiner Ž, Kovanen PT, Simental-Mendía M, Bianconi V, Pirro M. Statistical vs clinical significance: A matter of debate for orlistat treatment. Pharmacol Res 2017;124:158-9.

Sahebkar A, Simental-Mendía LE, Reiner Ž, Kovanen PT, Simental-Mendía M, Bianconi V, Pirro M. Effect of orlistat on plasma lipids and body weight: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 33 randomized controlled trials. Pharmacol Res 2017;122:53-65.

Schwarz J, Bierbaum V, Vaahtomeri K, Hauschild R, Brown M, de Vries I, Leithner A, Reversat A, Merrin J, Tarrant T, Bollenbach T, Sixt M. Dendritic Cells Interpret Haptotactic Chemokine Gradients in a Manner Governed by Signal-to-Noise Ratio and Dependent on GRK6. Curr Biol 2017;27:1314-25.

Shi GP, Bot I, Kovanen PT. Reply: The complexity of substance P-mediated mast cell activation. Nat Rev Cardiol 2017;14:124.

Silvennoinen R, Turunen JH, Kovanen PT, Syvänne M, Tikkanen MJ. Attitudes and actions: A survey to assess statin use among Finnish patients with increased risk for cardiovascular events. J Clin Lipidol 2017;11:485-94.

Vaahtomeri K, Brown M, Hauschild R, De Vries I, Leithner AF, Mehling M, Kaufmann WA, Sixt M. Locally Triggered Release of the Chemokine CCL21 Promotes Dendritic Cell Transmigration across Lymphatic Endothelia. Cell Rep 2017;19:902-9.

Vaahtomeri K, Karaman S, Mäkinen T, Alitalo K. Lymphangiogenesis guidance by paracrine and pericellular factors. Genes Dev 2017;31:1615-34.

Valent P, Akin C, Hartmann K, Nilsson G, Reiter A, Hermine O, Sotlar K, Sperr WR, Escribano L, George TI, Kluin-Nelemans HC, Ustun C, Triggiani M, Brockow K, Gotlib J, Orfao A, Schwartz LB, Broesby-Olsen S, Bindslev-Jensen C, Kovanen PT, Galli SJ, Austen KF, Arber DA, Horny HP, Arock M, Metcalfe DD. Advances in the classification and treatment of mastocytosis: Current status and outlook toward the future. Cancer Res 2017;77:1261-70.

Vuorio A, Kuoppala J, Kovanen PT, Humphries SE, Tonstad S, Wiegman A, Drogari E, Ramaswami U. Statins for children with familial hypercholesterolemia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2017 Jul 7;7:CD006401. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD006401

Vuorio A, Watts GF, Kovanen PT. Depicting new pharmacological strategies for familial hypercholesterolaemia involving lipoprotein (a). Eur Heart J 2017;38:3555-9.

Wang Y, Wu B, Lu P, Zhang D, Wu B, Varshney S, Del Monte-Nieto G, Zhuang Z, Charafeddine R, Kramer AH, Sibinga NE, Frangogiannis NG, Kitsis RN, Adams RH, Alitalo K, Sharp DJ, Harvey RP, Stanley P, Zhou B. Uncontrolled angiogenic precursor expansion causes coronary artery anomalies in mice lacking Pofut1. Nat Commun 2017;8(1):578. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00654-w.

PhD Theses

Satu Lehti, PhD: Extracellular lipid particles in atherosclerosis and aortic stenosis, University of Helsinki.

Harri Nurmi, PhD: Role of the VEGFC/VEGFR3 pathway, beyond developmental lymphangiogenesis, University of Helsinki.

Aspelund A, Robciuc MR, Karaman S, Mäkinen T, Alitalo K. Lymphatic system in cardiovascular medicine. Circ Res 2016;118:515-30.

Bui HM, Enis D, Robciuc MR, Nurmi HJ, Cohen J, Chen M, Yang Y, Dhillon V, Johnson K, Zhang H, Kirkpatrick R, Traxler E, Anisimov A, Alitalo K, Kahn ML. Proteolytic activation defines distinct lymphangiogenic mechanisms for VEGFC and VEGFD. J Clin Invest 2016;126:2167-80.

Chu M, Li T, Shen B, Cao X, Zhong H, Zhang L, Zhou F, Ma W, Jiang H, Xie P, Liu Z, Dong N, Xu Y, Zhao Y, Xu G, Lu P, Luo J, Wu Q, Alitalo K, Koh GY, Adams RH, He Y. Angiopoietin receptor Tie2 is required for vein specification and maintenance via regulating COUP-TFII. Elife 2016 Dec 22;5. pii: e21032. doi: 10.7554/eLife.21032.

Dashkevich A, Raissadati A, Syrjälä SO, Zarkada G, Keränen MA, Tuuminen R, Krebs R, Anisimov A, Jeltsch M, Leppänen VM, Alitalo K, Nykänen AI, Lemström KB. Ischemia-reperfusion injury enhances lymphatic endothelial VEGFR3 and rejection in cardiac allografts. Am J Transplant 2016;16:1160-72.

Da Silva RF, Lappalainen J, Lee-Rueckert M, Kovanen PT. Conversion of human M-CSF macrophages into foam cells reduces their proinflammatory responses to classical M1-polarizing activation. Atherosclerosis 2016;248:170-8.

Dichlberger A, Schlager S, Kovanen PT, Schneider WJ. Lipid droplets in activated mast cells – a significant source of triglyceride-derived arachidonic acid for eicosanoid production. Eur J Pharmacol 2016;785:59-69.

Fang S, Nurmi H, Heinolainen K, Chen S, Salminen E, Saharinen P, Mikkola HK, Alitalo K.Critical requirement of VEGF-C in transition to fetal erythropoiesis. Blood 2016;128:710-20.

Gan N, Multia E, Sirén H, Ruuth M, Öörni K, Maier NM, Jauhiainen M, Kemell M, Riekkola ML.Tailor-made approach for selective isolation and elution of low-density lipoproteins by immunoaffinity sorbent on silica. Anal Biochem 2016;514:12-23.

Honkanen HK, Izzi V, Petäistö T, Holopainen T, Harjunen V, Pihlajaniemi T, Alitalo K, Heljasvaara R.Elevated VEGF-D Modulates tumor inflammation and reduces the growth of carcinogen-induced skin tumors. Neoplasia 2016;18:436-46.

Johns SC, Yin X, Jeltsch M, Bishop JR, Schuksz M, El Ghazal R, Wilcox-Adelman SA, Alitalo K, Fuster MM. Functional importance of a proteoglycan coreceptor in pathologic lymphangiogenesis. Circ Res 2016;119:210-21.

Karaman S, Hollmén M, Yoon SY, Alkan HF, Alitalo K, Wolfrum C, Detmar M. Transgenic overexpression of VEGF-C induces weight gain and insulin resistance in mice. Sci Rep 2016 Aug 11;6:31566. doi: 10.1038/srep31566.

Kim M, Allen B, Korhonen EA, Nitschké M, Yang HW, Baluk P, Saharinen P, Alitalo K, Daly C, Thurston G, McDonald DM. Opposing actions of angiopoietin-2 on Tie2 signaling and FOXO1 activation. J Clin Invest 2016;126:3511-25.

Kivelä R, Salmela I, Nguyen YH, Petrova TV, Koistinen HA, Wiener Z, Alitalo K. The transcription factor Prox1 is essential for satellite cell differentiation and muscle fibre-type regulation. Nat Commun 2016 Oct 12;7:13124. doi: 10.1038/ncomms13124.

Korhonen EA, Lampinen A, Giri H, Anisimov A, Kim M, Allen B, Fang S, D’Amico G, Sipilä TJ, Lohela M, Strandin T, Vaheri A, Ylä-Herttuala S, Koh GY, McDonald DM, Alitalo K, Saharinen P. Tie1 controls angiopoietin function in vascular remodeling and inflammation. J Clin Invest 2016;126:3495-510.

Kritikou E, Kuiper J, Kovanen PT, Bot I. The impact of mast cells on cardiovascular diseases. Eur J Pharmacol 2016;778:103-15.

Laurila PP, Soronen J, Kooijman S, Forsström S, Boon MR, Surakka I, Kaiharju E, Coomans CP, Van Den Berg SA, Autio A, Sarin AP, Kettunen J, Tikkanen E, Manninen T, Metso J, Silvennoinen R, Merikanto K, Ruuth M, Perttilä J, Mäkelä A, Isomi A, Tuomainen AM, Tikka A, Ramadan UA, Seppälä I, Lehtimäki T, Eriksson J, Havulinna A, Jula A, Karhunen PJ, Salomaa V, Perola M, Ehnholm C, Lee-Rueckert M, Van Eck M, Roivainen A, Taskinen MR, Peltonen L, Mervaala E, Jalanko A, Hohtola E, Olkkonen VM, Ripatti S, Kovanen PT, Rensen PC, Suomalainen A, Jauhiainen M. USF1 deficiency activates brown adipose tissue and improves cardiometabolic health. Sci Transl Med 2016 Jan 27;8(323):323ra13. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aad0015.

Lee-Rueckert M, Escola-Gil JC, Kovanen PT. HDL functionality in reverse cholesterol transport – Challenges in translating data emerging from mouse models to human disease. Biochim Biophys Acta 2016;1861:566-83.

Lund AW, Wagner M, Fankhauser M, Steinskog ES, Broggi MA, Spranger S, Gajewski TF, Alitalo K, Eikesdal HP, Wiig H, Swartz MA. Lymphatic vessels regulate immune microenvironments in human and murine melanoma. J Clin Invest 2016;126:3389-402.

Nguyen SD, Maaninka K, Lappalainen J, Nurmi K, Metso J, Öörni K, Navab M, Fogelman AM, Jauhiainen M, Lee-Rueckert M, Kovanen PT. Carboxyl-terminal cleavage of apolipoprotein A-I by human mast cell chymase impairs its anti-inflammatory properties. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol   2016;36:274-84.

Nissinen TA, Degerman J, Räsänen M, Poikonen AR, Koskinen S, Mervaala E, Pasternack A, Ritvos O, Kivelä R, Hulmi JJ. Systemic blockade of ACVR2B ligands prevents chemotherapy-induced muscle wasting by restoring muscle protein synthesis without affecting oxidative capacity or atrogenes. Sci Rep 2016 Sep 26;6:32695. doi: 10.1038/srep32695.

Ollikainen E, Tulamo R, Lehti S, Lee-Rueckert M, Hernesniemi J, Niemelä M, Ylä-Herttuala S, Kovanen PT, Frösen J. Smooth muscle cell foam cell formation, apolipoproteins, and ABCA1 in intracranial aneurysms: Implications for lipid accumulation as a promoter of aneurysm wall rupture. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2016;75:689-99.

Palomäki A, Hällberg V, Ala-Korpela M, Kovanen PT, Malminiemi K. Prompt impact of first prospective statin mega-trials on postoperative lipid management of CABG patients: a 20-year follow-up in a single hospital. Lipids Health Dis 2016;15:124. doi: 10.1186/s12944-016-0292-6.

Raissadati A, Tuuminen R, Dashkevich A, Bry M, Kivelä R, Anisimov A, Syrjälä S, Arnaudova R, Rouvinen E, Keränen MA, Krebs R, Nykänen AI, Lemström KB. Vascular endothelial growth factor-B overexpressing hearts are not protected from transplant-associated ischemia-reperfusion injury. Exp Clin Transplant 2016 Sep 1. doi: 10.6002/ect.2016.0181. [Epub ahead of print].

Rajamäki K, Mäyränpää MI, Risco A, Tuimala J, Nurmi K, Cuenda A, Eklund KK, Öörni K, Kovanen PT. p38δ MAPK: A novel regulator of NLRP3 inflammasome activation with increased expression in coronary atherogenesis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2016;36:1937-46.

Rautiola J, Lampinen A, Mirtti T, Ristimäki A, Joensuu H, Bono P, Saharinen P. Association of Angiopoietin-2 and Ki-67 expression with vascular density and sunitinib response in metastatic renal cell carcinoma. PLoS One. 2016;11:e0153745. doi: 10.1371.

Robciuc MR, Kivelä R, Williams IM, de Boer JF, van Dijk TH, Elamaa H, Tigistu-Sahle F, Molotkov D, Leppänen VM, Käkelä R, Eklund L, Wasserman DH, Groen AK, Alitalo K. VEGFB/VEGFR1-induced expansion of adipose vasculature counteracts obesity and related metabolic complications. Cell Metab 2016;23:712-24.

Räsänen M, Degerman J, Nissinen TA, Miinalainen I, Kerkelä R, Siltanen A, Backman JT, Mervaala E, Hulmi JJ, Kivelä R, Alitalo K. VEGF-B gene therapy inhibits doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity by endothelial protection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016;113:13144-9.

Schaupper MV, Jeltsch M, Rohringer S, Redl H, Holnthoner W. Lymphatic vessels in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Tissue Eng Part B Rev 2016;22:395-407.

Sinisalo J, Vlachopoulou E, Marchesani M, Nokelainen J, Mäyränpää MI, Lappalainen J, Paakkanen R, Wennerström A, Salli K, Niemi HJ, Männistö S, Salo P, Junttila J, Eskola M, Nikus K, Arstila TP, Perola M, Huikuri H, Karhunen PJ, Kovanen PT, Palotie A, Havulinna AS, Lluis-Ganella C, Marrugat J, Elosua R, Salomaa V, Nieminen MS, Lokki ML. Novel 6p21.3 risk haplotype predisposes to acute coronary syndrome. Circ Cardiovasc Genet 2016;9:55-63.

Vuorio A, Strandberg TE, Schneider WJ, Kovanen PT. Statins and new-onset diabetes mellitus – a risk lacking in familial hypercholesterolaemia. J Intern Med 2016;279:358-61.

Vuorio A, Strandberg TE, Schneider WJ, Kovanen PT. Response to Dr. Gerald M Reaven: good news for patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia: statins are not diabetogenic in this disease. J Intern Med 2016;280:419-20.

Vuorio A, Watts GF, Kovanen PT. Initiation of PCSK9 inhibition in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia entering adulthood: a new design for living with a high-risk condition? Eur Heart J 2016;37:1353-6.

Vuorio A, Watts GF, Kovanen PT. Rescue therapy with PCSK9 inhibitors for patients with delayed diagnosis of heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: Redressing the balance of missed opportunities. J Clin Lipidol 2016;10:1278-9.

Annema W, von Eckardstein A, Kovanen PT. HDL and atherothrombotic vascular disease. Handb Exp Pharmacol 2015;224:369-403.

Aspelund A, Antila S, Proulx ST, Karlsen TV, Karaman S, Detmar M, Wiig H, Alitalo K. A dural lymphatic vascular system that drains brain interstitial fluid and macromolecules. J Exp Med 2015;212:991-9.

Bot I, Shi GP, Kovanen PT. Mast cells as effectors in atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2015;35:265-71.

Choe K, Jang JY, Park I, Kim Y, Ahn S, Park DY, Hong YK, Alitalo K, Koh GY, Kim P. Intravital imaging of intestinal lacteals unveils lipid drainage through contractility. J Clin Invest 2015;125:4042-52.

Escolà-Gil JC, Lee-Rueckert M, Santos D, Cedó L, Blanco-Vaca F, Julve J. Quantification of in vitro macrophage cholesterol efflux and in vivo macrophage-specific reverse cholesterol transport. Methods Mol Biol 2015;1339:211-33.

Estruch M, Rajamäki K, Sanchez-Quesada JL, Kovanen PT, Öörni K, Benitez S, Ordoñez-Llanos J.Electronegative LDL induces priming and inflammasome activation leading to IL-1β release in human monocytes and macrophages. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2015;1851:1442-9.

Hakanpää L, Sipilä T, Leppänen VM, Gautam P, Nurmi H, Jacquemet G, Eklund L, Ivaska J, Alitalo K, Saharinen P. Endothelial destabilization by angiopoietin-2 via integrin β1 activation. Nat Commun 2015;6:5962. doi: 10.1038/ncomms6962.

Han J, Calvo CF, Kang TH, Baker KL, Park JH, Parras C, Levittas M, Birba U, Pibouin-Fragner L, Fragner P, Bilguvar K, Duman RS, Nurmi H, Alitalo K, Eichmann AC, Thomas JL. Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3 controls neural stem cell activation in mice and humans. Cell Rep 2015;10:1158-72.

Helske-Suihko S, Laine M, Lommi J, Kaartinen M, Werkkala K, Kovanen PT, Kupari M. Is blockade of the Renin-Angiotensin system able to reverse the structural and functional remodeling of the left ventricle in severe aortic stenosis? J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 2015;65:233-40.

Holopainen T, Räsänen M, Anisimov A, Tuomainen T, Zheng W, Tvorogov D, Hulmi JJ, Andersson LC, Cenni B, Tavi P, Mervaala E, Kivelä R, Alitalo K. Endothelial Bmx tyrosine kinase activity is essential for myocardial hypertrophy and remodeling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015;112:13063-8.

Kareinen I, Cedó L, Silvennoinen R, Laurila PP, Jauhiainen M, Julve J, Blanco-Vaca F, Escola-Gil JC, Kovanen PT, Lee-Rueckert M. Enhanced vascular permeability facilitates entry of plasma HDL and promotes macrophage-reverse cholesterol transport from skin in mice. J Lipid Res 2015;56:241-53.

Kovanen PT, Jauhiainen M. Coronary heart disease prediction: Apolipoprotein B shows its might again – but still in vain? Eur J Prev Cardiol 2015;22:1317-20.

Lee-Rueckert M, Kovanen PT. The mast cell as a pluripotent HDL-modifying effector in atherogenesis: from in vitro to in vivo significance. Curr Opin Lipidol 2015;26:362-8.

Lehti S, Sjövall P, Käkelä R, Mäyränpää MI, Kovanen PT, Öörni K. Spatial distributions of lipids in atherosclerosis of human coronary arteries studied by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. Am J Pathol 2015;185:1216-33.

Magné J, Gustafsson P, Jin H, Maegdefessel L, Hultenby K, Wernerson A, Eriksson P, Franco-Cereceda A, Kovanen PT, Gonçalves I, Ehrenborg E. ATG16L1 expression in carotid atherosclerotic plaques Is associated with plaque vulnerability. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2015;35:1226-35.

Martinez-Corral I, Ulvmar MH, Stanczuk L, Tatin F, Kizhatil K, John SW, Alitalo K, Ortega S, Mäkinen T. Nonvenous origin of dermal lymphatic vasculature. Circ Res 2015;116:1649-54.

Nguyen SD, Javanainen M, Rissanen S, Zhao H, Huusko J, Kivelä AM, Ylä-Herttuala S, Navab M, Fogelman AM, Vattulainen I, Kovanen PT, Öörni K. Apolipoprotein A-I mimetic peptide 4F blocks sphingomyelinase-induced LDL aggregation. J Lipid Res 2015;56:1206-21.

Nuotio K, Soinne L, Hänninen H, Saksi J, Tuimala J, Jula A, Kovanen PT, Kaste M, Ijäs P, Lindsberg PJ. Life-threatening coronary disease is prevalent in patients with stenosing carotid artery disease. Int J Stroke 2015;10:1217–1223.

Nurmi H, Saharinen P, Zarkada G, Zheng W, Robciuc MR, Alitalo K. VEGF-C is required for intestinal lymphatic vessel maintenance and lipid absorption. EMBO Mol Med 2015;7:1418-25.

Ohukainen P, Syväranta S, Näpänkangas J, Rajamäki K, Taskinen P, Peltonen T, Helske-Suihko S, Kovanen PT, Ruskoaho H, Rysä J. MicroRNA-125b and chemokine CCL4 expression are associated with calcific aortic valve disease. Ann Med 2015;47:423-9

Roukens MG, Peterson-Maduro J, Padberg Y, Jeltsch M, Leppänen VM, Bos FL, Alitalo K, Schulte-Merker S, Schulte D. Functional dissection of the CCBE1 protein: a crucial requirement for the collagen repeat domain. Circ Res 2015;116:1660-9.

Saharinen P, Ivaska J. Blocking integrin inactivation as an anti-angiogenic therapy. EMBO J 2015;34:1293-5.

Shi GP, Bot I, Kovanen PT. Mast cells in human and experimental cardiometabolic diseases. Nat Rev Cardiol 2015;12:643-58.

Silvennoinen R, Quesada H, Kareinen I, Julve J, Kaipiainen L, Gylling H, Blanco-Vaca F, Escola-Gil JC, Kovanen PT, Lee-Rueckert M. Chronic intermittent psychological stress promotes macrophage reverse cholesterol transport by impairing bile acid absorption in mice. Physiol Rep 2015;3. pii: e12402. doi: 10.14814

Simonen P, Lommi J, Hallikainen M, Helske-Suihko S, Werkkala K, Kupari M, Kovanen PT, Gylling H. Dietary plant stanols or sterols neither accumulate in stenotic aortic valves nor influence their structure or inflammatory status. Clin Nutr 2015;34:1251-7.

Stanczuk L, Martinez-Corral I, Ulvmar MH, Zhang Y, Laviña B, Fruttiger M, Adams RH, Saur D, Betsholtz C, Ortega S, Alitalo K, Graupera M, Mäkinen T. cKit lineage hemogenic endothelium-derived cells contribute to mesenteric lymphatic vessels. Cell Rep 2015;10:1708-21.

Syrjälä SO, Nykänen AI, Tuuminen R, Raissadati A, Keränen MA, Arnaudova R, Krebs R, Koh GY, Alitalo K, Lemström KB. Donor heart treatment with COMP-Ang1 limits ischemia-reperfusion injury and rejection of cardiac allografts. Am J Transplant 2015;15:2075-84.

Tamminen K, Balboa D, Toivonen S, Pakarinen MP, Wiener Z, Alitalo K, Otonkoski T. Intestinal commitment and maturation of human pluripotent stem cells is independent of exogenous FGF4 and R-spondin1. PLoS One 2015;10:e0134551. doi: 10.1371.

Tervala TV, Hartiala P, Tammela T, Visuri MT, Ylä-Herttuala S, Alitalo K, Saarikko AM. Growth factor therapy and lymph node graft for lymphedema. J Surg Res 2015;196:200-7.

Theelen TL, Lappalainen JP, Sluimer JC, Gurzeler E, Cleutjens JP, Gijbels MJ, Biessen EA, Daemen MJ, Alitalo K, Ylä-Herttuala S. Angiopoietin-2 blocking antibodies reduce early atherosclerotic plaque development in mice. Atherosclerosis 2015;241:297-304.

Turkki R, Linder N, Holopainen T, Wang Y, Grote A, Lundin M, Alitalo K, Lundin J. Assessment of tumour viability in human lung cancer xenografts with texture-based image analysis. J Clin Pathol 2015;68:614-21.

Visuri MT, Honkonen KM, Hartiala P, Tervala TV, Halonen PJ, Junkkari H, Knuutinen N, Ylä-Herttuala S, Alitalo KK, Saarikko AM. VEGF-C and VEGF-C156S in the pro-lymphangiogenic growth factor therapy of lymphedema: a large animal study. Angiogenesis 2015;18:313-26.

Vuorio A, Kaste M, Kovanen PT. Combination of intracerebral haemorrhage and familial hypercholesterolemia in the acute hospital setting–a challenge for statin treatment? Int J Stroke 2015;10:467-8.

Wang J, Sukhova GK, Liu J, Ozaki K, Lesner A, Libby P, Kovanen PT, Shi GP. Cathepsin G deficiency reduces periaortic calcium chloride injury-induced abdominal aortic aneurysms in mice. 2015;62:1615-24.

Wiegman A, Gidding SS, Watts GF, Chapman MJ, Ginsberg HN, Cuchel M, Ose L, Averna M, Boileau C, Borén J, Bruckert E, Catapano AL, Defesche JC, Descamps OS, Hegele RA, Hovingh GK, Humphries SE, Kovanen PT, Kuivenhoven JA, Masana L, Nordestgaard BG, Pajukanta P, Parhofer KG, Raal FJ, Ray KK, Santos RD, Stalenhoef AF, Steinhagen-Thiessen E, Stroes ES, Taskinen MR, Tybjærg-Hansen A, Wiklund O; European Atherosclerosis Society Consensus Panel. Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents: gaining decades of life by optimizing detection and treatment. Eur Heart J 2015;36:2425-37.

Zarkada G, Heinolainen K, Mäkinen T, Kubota Y, Alitalo K. VEGFR3 does not sustain retinal angiogenesis without VEGFR2. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015;112:761-6.

Öörni K, Rajamäki K, Nguyen SD, Lähdesmäki K, Plihtari R, Lee-Rueckert M, Kovanen PT. Acidification of the intimal fluid: the perfect storm for atherogenesis. J Lipid Res 2015;56:203-14.

PhD Theses

Ilona Kareinen, DVT: Mast cells and HDL studies on cholesterol efflux and reverse cholesterol transport, University of Helsinki.

Katariina Nurmi, PhD: Inhibition of inflammatory cellurar responses by ethanol and heme-novel mechanism of inflammatory responses and inflammation, University of Helsinki.

Kristiina Rajamäki, PhD: Role of the inflammasome pathway in atherosclerosis, University of Helsinki.

Reija Silvennoinen, PhD: Physiological modulation of the reverse cholesterol transport pathway in vivo, University of Helsinki.

Alanne-Kinnunen M, Lappalainen J, Oörni K, Kovanen PT. Activated Human Mast Cells Induce LOX-1-Specific Scavenger Receptor Expression in Human Monocyte-Derived Macrophages. PLoS One 2014;9:e108352. doi: 10.1371

Aspelund A, Tammela T, Antila S, Nurmi H, Leppänen VM, Zarkada G, Stanczuk L, Francois M, Mäkinen T, Saharinen P, Immonen I, Alitalo K. The Schlemm’s canal is a VEGF-C/VEGFR-3-responsive lymphatic-like vessel. J Clin Invest 2014;124:3975-86.

Bry M, Kivelä R, Leppänen VM, Alitalo K. Vascular endothelial growth factor-B in physiology and disease. Physiol Rev 2014;94:779-794.

Chen HI, Poduri A, Nurmi H, Kivela R, Saharinen P, McKay AS, Raftrey B, Churko J, Tian X, Zhou B, Wu JC, Alitalo K, Red-Horse K. VEGF-C and aortic cardiomyocytes guide coronary artery stem development. J Clin Invest 2014;124:4899-914

Chen HI, Sharma B, Akerberg BN, Nurmi HJ, Kivelä R, Saharinen P, Aghajanian H, McKay AS, Bogard PE, Chang AH, Jacobs AH, Epstein JA, Stankunas K, Alitalo K, Red-Horse K. The sinus venosus contributes to coronary vasculature through VEGFC-stimulated angiogenesis. Development 2014;141:4500-12.

Cuchel M, Bruckert E, Ginsberg HN, Raal FJ, Santos RD, Hegele RA, Kuivenhoven JA, Nordestgaard BG, Descamps OS, Steinhagen-Thiessen E, Tybjærg-Hansen A, Watts GF, Averna M, Boileau C, Borén J, Catapano AL, Defesche JC, Hovingh GK, Humphries SE, Kovanen PT, Masana L, Pajukanta P, Parhofer KG, Ray KK, Stalenhoef AF, Stroes E, Taskinen MR, Wiegman A, Wiklund O, Chapman MJ; for the European Atherosclerosis Society Consensus Panel on Familial Hypercholesterolaemia. Homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia: new insights and guidance for clinicians to improve detection and clinical management. A position paper from the Consensus Panel on Familial Hypercholesterolaemia of the European Atherosclerosis Society. Eur Heart J 2014;35:2146-57.

D’Amico G, Korhonen EA, Anisimov A, Zarkada G, Holopainen T, Hägerling R, Kiefer F, Eklund L, Sormunen R, Elamaa H, Brekken RA, Adams RH, Koh GY, Saharinen P, Alitalo K. Tie1 deletion inhibits tumor growth and improves angiopoietin antagonist therapy. J Clin Invest 2014;124:824-834.

Dichlberger A, Schlager S, Maaninka K, Schneider WJ, Kovanen PT. Adipose triglyceride lipase regulates eicosanoid production in activated human mast cells. J Lipid Res 2014;55:2471-8.

Dijkstra MH, Pirinen E, Huusko J, Kivelä R, Schenkwein D, Alitalo K, Ylä-Herttuala S. Lack of cardiac and high-fat diet induced metabolic phenotypes in two independent strains of Vegf-b knockout mice. Sci Rep 2014;4:6238. doi:10.1038.

Gylling H, Plat J, Turley S, Ginsberg HN, Ellegård L, Jessup W, Jones PJ, Lütjohann D, Maerz W, Masana L, Silbernagel G, Staels B, Borén J, Catapano AL, De Backer G, Deanfield J, Descamps OS, Kovanen PT, Riccardi G, Tokgözoglu L, Chapman MJ; European Atherosclerosis Society Consensus Panel on Phytosterols. Plant sterols and plant stanols in the management of dyslipidaemia and prevention of cardiovascular disease. Atherosclerosis 2014;232:346-360.

Hegele RA, Ginsberg HN, Chapman MJ, Nordestgaard BG, Kuivenhoven JA, Averna M, Borén J, Bruckert E, Catapano AL, Descamps OS, Hovingh GK, Humphries SE, Kovanen PT, Masana L, Pajukanta P, Parhofer KG, Raal FJ, Ray KK, Santos RD, Stalenhoef AF, Stroes E, Taskinen MR, Tybjærg-Hansen A, Watts GF, Wiklund O; European Atherosclerosis Society Consensus Panel. The polygenic nature of hypertriglyceridaemia: implications for definition, diagnosis, and management. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2014;2:655-66.

Jeltsch M, Jha SK, Tvorogov D, Anisimov A, Leppänen VM, Holopainen T, Kivelä R, Ortega S, Kärpanen T, Alitalo K. CCBE1 enhances lymphangiogenesis via a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin motifs-3-mediated vascular endothelial growth factor-C activation. Circulation 2014;129:1962-71.

Karaman S, Hollmén M, Robciuc MR, Alitalo A, Nurmi H, Morf B, Buschle D, Alkan HF, Ochsenbein AM, Alitalo K, Wolfrum C, Detmar M. Blockade of VEGF-C and VEGF-D modulates adipose tissue inflammation and improves metabolic parameters under high-fat diet. Mol Metab 2014;4:93-105.

Kivelä R, Bry M, Robciuc MR, Räsänen M, Taavitsainen M, Silvola JM, Saraste A, Hulmi JJ, Anisimov A, Mäyränpää MI, Lindeman JH, Eklund L, Hellberg S, Hlushchuk R, Zhuang ZW, Simons M, Djonov V, Knuuti J, Mervaala E, Alitalo K. VEGF-B-induced vascular growth leads to metabolic reprogramming and ischemia resistance in the heart. EMBO Mol Med 2014;6:307-21.

Marbacher S, Frösén J, Marjamaa J, Anisimov A, Honkanen P, von Gunten M, Abo-Ramadan U, Hernesniemi J, Niemelä M. Intraluminal cell transplantation prevents growth and rupture in a model of rupture-prone saccular aneurysms. Stroke 2014;45:3684-90.

Ollikainen E, Tulamo R, Frösen J, Lehti S, Honkanen P, Hernesniemi J, Niemelä M, Kovanen PT. Mast cells, neovascularization, and microhemorrhages are associated with saccular intracranial artery aneurysm wall remodeling. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2014;73:855-64.

Saksi J, Ijäs P, Mäyränpää MI, Nuotio K, Isoviita PM, Tuimala J, Lehtonen-Smeds E, Kaste M, Jula A, Sinisalo J, Nieminen MS, Lokki ML, Perola M, Havulinna AS, Salomaa V, Kettunen J, Jauhiainen M, Kovanen PT, Lindsberg PJ. Low-expression variant of fatty acid-binding protein 4 favors reduced manifestations of atherosclerotic disease and increased plaque stability. Circ Cardiovasc Genet 2014;7:588-98.

Srinivasan RS, Escobedo N, Yang Y, Interiano A, Dillard ME, Finkelstein D, Mukatira S, Gil HJ, Nurmi H, Alitalo K, Oliver G. The Prox1-Vegfr3 feedback loop maintains the identity and the number of lymphatic endothelial cell progenitors. Genes Dev 2014;28:2175-87.

Syrjälä SO, Tuuminen R, Nykänen AI, Raissadati A, Dashkevich A, Keränen MA, Arnaudova R, Krebs R, Leow CC, Saharinen P, Alitalo K, Lemström KB. Angiopoietin-2 inhibition prevents transplant ischemia-reperfusion injury and chronic rejection in rat cardiac allografts. Am J Transplant 2014;14:1096-108.

Syväranta S, Alanne-Kinnunen M, Öörni K, Oksjoki R, Kupari M, Kovanen PT, Helske-Suihko S. Potential pathological roles for oxidized low-density lipoprotein and scavenger receptors SR-AI, CD36, and LOX-1 in aortic valve stenosis. Atherosclerosis 2014;235:398-407.

Vuorio A, Kuoppala J, Kovanen PT, Humphries SE, Tonstad S, Wiegman A, Drogari E. Statins for children with familial hypercholesterolemia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2014;7: doi: 10.1002/14651858.

Vuorio A, Tikkanen MJ, Kovanen PT. Inhibition of hepatic microsomal triglyceride transfer protein – a novel therapeutic option for treatment of homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Vasc Health Risk Manag 2014;10:263-270.

Vuorio T, Nurmi H, Moulton K, Kurkipuro J, Robciuc MR, Ohman M, Heinonen SE, Samaranayake H, Heikura T, Alitalo K, Ylä-Herttuala S. Lymphatic vessel insufficiency in hypercholesterolemic mice alters lipoprotein levels and promotes atherogenesis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2014;34:1162-170.

Wang J, Sjöberg S, Tang TT, Öörni K, Wu W, Liu C, Secco B, Tia V, Sukhova GK, Fernandes C, Lesner A, Kovanen PT, Libby P, Cheng X, Shi GP. Cathepsin G activity lowers plasma LDL and reduces atherosclerosis. Biochim Biophys Acta 2014;1842:2174-83.

Wiener Z, Band AM, Kallio P, Högström J, Hyvönen V, Kaijalainen S, Ritvos O, Haglund C, Kruuna O, Robine S, Louvard D, Ben-Neriah Y, Alitalo K. Oncogenic mutations in intestinal adenomas regulate Bim-mediated apoptosis induced by TGF-β. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014;111:E2229-2236.

Wiener Z, Högström J, Hyvönen V, Band AM, Kallio P, Holopainen T, Dufva O, Haglund C, Kruuna O, Oliver G, Ben-Neriah Y, Alitalo K. Prox1 promotes expansion of the colorectal cancer stem cell population to fuel tumor growth and ischemia resistance. Cell Rep 2014;8:1943-56.

Yao LC, Testini C, Tvorogov D, Anisimov A, Vargas SO, Baluk P, Pytowski B, Claesson-Welsh L, Alitalo K, McDonald DM. Pulmonary lymphangiectasia resulting from vascular endothelial growth factor-C overexpression during a critical period. Circ Res 2014;114:806-22.

Zheng W, Aspelund A, Alitalo K. Lymphangiogenic factors, mechanisms, and applications. J Clin Invest 2014;124:878-87.

Zheng W, Nurmi H, Appak S, Sabine A, Bovay E, Korhonen EA, Orsenigo F, Lohela M, D’Amico G, Holopainen T, Leow CC, Dejana E, Petrova TV, Augustin HG, Alitalo K. Angiopoietin 2 regulates the transformation and integrity of lymphatic endothelial cell junctions. Genes Dev 2014;28:1592-1603.

PhD Thesis

Georgia Zarkada, PhD: VEGFR3 and Notch signaling in angiogenesis, University of Helsinki 2014.

Anisimov A, Leppänen VM, Tvorogov D, Zarkada G, Jeltsch M, Holopainen T, Kaijalainen S, Alitalo K. The basis for the distinct biological activities of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 ligands. Sci Signal 2013;6:ra52.

Anisimov A, Tvorogov D, Alitalo A, Leppänen VM, An Y, Han EC, Orsenigo F, Gaál EI, Holopainen T, Koh YJ, Tammela T, Korpisalo P, Keskitalo S, Jeltsch M, Ylä-Herttuala S, Dejana E, Koh GY, Choi C, Saharinen P, Alitalo K. Vascular endothelial growth factor-angiopoietin chimera with improved properties for therapeutic angiogenesis. Circulation 2013;127:424-34.

Badeau RM, Metso J, Kovanen PT, Lee-Rueckert M, Tikkanen MT, Jauhiainen M. The impact of gender and serum estradiol levels on HDL-mediated reverse cholesterol transport. Eur J Clin Invest 2013;43:317-23.

Cilpa-Karhu G, Lipponen K, Samuelsson J, Öörni K, Fornstedt T, Riekkola ML. Three complementary techniques for the clarification of temperature effect on low-density lipoprotein-chondroitin-6-sulfate interaction. Anal Biochem 2013;443:139-47.

Dichlberger A, Kovanen PT, Schneider WJ. Mast cells: from lipid droplets to lipid mediators. Cli Sci (Lond) 2013;125:121-30.

Gaál EI, Tammela T, Anisimov A, Marbacher S, Honkanen P, Zarkada G, Leppänen VM, Tatlisumak T, Hernesniemi J, Niemelä M, Alitalo K. Comparison of vascular growth factors in the murine brain reveals placenta growth factor as prime candidate for CNS revascularization. Blood 2013;122:658-65.

Eklund L, Bry M, Alitalo K. Mouse models for studying angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in cancer. Mol Oncol 2013;7:259-82.

Eklund L, Saharinen P. Angiopoietin signaling in the vasculature. Exp Cell Res. 2013;319:1271-80.

Escolà-Gil JC, Julve J, Llaverias G, Urpi-Sarda M, Silvennoinen R, Lee-Rueckert M, Andres-Lacueva C, Blanco-Vaca F. Resveratrol administration or SIRT1 overexpression does not increase LXR signaling and macrophage-to-feces reverse cholesterol transport in vivo. Transl Res 2013;161:110-7.

Hamm A, Veschini L, Takeda Y, Costa S, Delamarre E, Squadrito ML, Henze AT, Wenes M, Serneels J, Pucci F, Roncal C, Anisimov A, Alitalo K, De Palma M, Mazzone M. PHD2 regulates arteriogenic macrophages through TIE2 signalling. EMBO Mol Med 2013;5:843-57.

Hyvärinen K, Tuomainen AM, Laitinen S, Alfthan G, Salminen I, Leinonen M, Saikku P, Kovanen PT, Jauhiainen M, Pussinen PJ. The effect of proatherogenic pathogens on adipose tissue transcriptome and fatty acid distribution in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. BMC Genomics 2013;14:709. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-14-709.

Ijäs P, Saksi J, Soinne L, Tuimala J, Jauhiainen M, Jula A, Kähönen M, Kesäniemi YA, Kovanen PT, Kaste M, Lindsberg PJ. Haptoglobin 2 allele associates with unstable carotid plaque and major cardiovascular events. Atherosclerosis 2013;230:228-34.

Jeltsch M, Leppänen VM, Saharinen P, Alitalo K. Receptor tyrosine kinase-mediated angiogenesis. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2013;5. pii: a009183. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a009183.

Kallio KA, Hyvärinen K, Kovanen PT, Jauhiainen M, Pussinen PJ. Very low density lipoproteins derived from periodontitis patients facilitate macrophage activation via lipopolysaccharide function. Metabolism 2013;62:661-8.

Kwon HB, Fukuhara S, Asakawa K, Ando K, Kashiwada T, Kawakami K, Hibi M, Kwon YG, Kim KW, Alitalo K, Mochizuki N. The parallel growth of motoneuron axons with the dorsal aorta depends on Vegfc/Vegfr3 signaling in zebrafish. Development 2013;140:4081-90.

Lappalainen J, Rintahaka J, Kovanen PT, Matikainen S, Eklund K. Intracellular RNA recognition pathway activates strong anti-viral response in human mast cells. Clin Exp Immunol 2013;172:121-8.

Lee-Rueckert M, Blanco-Vaca F, Kovanen PT, Escola-Gil JC. The role of the gut in reverse cholesterol transport – Focus on the enterocyte. Prog Lipid Res 2013;52:317-28.

Lehti S, Käkelä R, Hörkkö S, Kummu O, Helske-Suihko S, Kupari M, Werkkala K, Kovanen PT, Öörni K. Modified lipoprotein-derived lipid particles accumulate in human stenotic aortic valves. PLoS One 2013;8:e65810. doi: 10.1371

Leppänen VM, Tvorogov D, Kisko K, Prota AE, Jeltsch M, Anisimov A, Markovic-Mueller S, Stuttfeld E, Goldie KN, Ballmer-Hofer K, Alitalo K. Structural and mechanistic insights into VEGF receptor 3 ligand binding and activation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2013;110:12960-5.

Maaninka K, Lappalainen J, Kovanen PT. Human mast cells arise from a common circulating progenitor. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2013;132:463-9.

Nordestgaard BG, Chapman MJ, Humphries SE, Ginsberg HN, Masana L, Descamps OS, Wiklund O, Hegele RA, Raal FJ, Defesche JC, Wiegman A, Santos RD, Watts GF, Parhofer KG, Kees Hovingh G, Kovanen PT, Boileau C, Averna M, Borén J, Bruckert E, Catapano AL, Kuivenhoven JA, Pajukanta P, Ray K, Stalenhoef AF, Stroes E, Taskinen MR, Tybjærg-Hansen A; for the European Atherosclerosis Society Consensus Panel. Familial hypercholesterolaemia is underdiagnosed and undertreated in the general population: guidance for clinicians to prevent coronary heart disease: Consensus Statement of the European Atherosclerosis Society. Eur Heart J 2013;34:3478-90.

Nurmi K, Virkanen J, Rajamäki K, Niemi K, Kovanen PT, Eklund KK. Ethanol inhibits activation of NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes in human macrophages – a novel anti-inflammatory action of alcohol. PLoS One 2013;8:e78537 doi: 10.1371.

Oksaharju A, Kooistra T, Kleemann R, van Duyvenvoorde W, Miettinen M, Lindstedt KA, Kovanen PT, Korpela R, Kekkonen RA. Effects of probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Propionibacterium freudenreichii ssp. shermanii JS supplementation on intestinal and systemic markers of inflammation in ApoE*3Leiden mice consuming a high-fat diet. Brit J Nutr 2013;110:77-85.

Raissadati A, Jokinen JJ, Syrjälä SO, Keränen MA, Krebs R, Tuuminen R, Arnaudova R, Rouvinen E, Anisimov A, Soronen J, Pajusola K, Alitalo K, Nykänen AI, Lemström K. Ex vivo intracoronary gene transfer of adeno-associated virus 2 leads to superior transduction over serotypes 8 and 9 in rat heart transplants. Transpl Int 2013;26:1126-37.

Raitakari OT, Mäkinen VP, McQueen MJ, Niemi J, Juonala M, Jauhiainen M, Salomaa V, Hannuksela ML, Savolainen MJ, Kesäniemi AY, Kovanen PT, Sundvall J, Solakivi T, Loo BM, Marniemi J, Hernesniemi J, Lehtimäki T, Kähönen M, Peltonen M, Leiviskä J, Jula A, Anand SS, Miller R, Yusuf S, Viikari JSA, Ala-Korpela M. Computationally estimated apolipoproteins B and A1 in predicting cardiovascular risk. Atherosclerosis 2013;226:245-51.

Rajamäki K, Nordström T, Nurmi K, Åkerman KE, Kovanen PT, Öörni K, Eklund KK. Extracellular acidosis is a novel danger signal alerting innate immunity via the NLRP3 inflammasome. J Biol Chem 2013;288:13410-9.

Robciuc MR, Maranghi M, Lahikainen A, Rader D, Bensadoun A, Öörni K, Metso J, Minicocci I, Ciociola E, Ceci F, Montali A, Arca M, Ehnholm C, Jauhiainen M. Angptl3 deficiency is associated with increased insulin sensitivity, lipoprotein lipase activity, and decreased serum free fatty acids. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2013;33:1706-13.

Thomas JL, Baker K, Han J, Calvo C, Nurmi H, Eichmann AC, Alitalo K. Interactions between VEGFR and Notch signaling pathways in endothelial and neural cells. Cell Mol Life Sci 2013;70:1779-92.

Vuorio A, Doherty KF, Humphries SE, Kuoppala J, Kovanen PT. Statin treatment of children with familial hypercholesterolemia – Trying to balance incomplete evidence of long-term safety and clinical accountability: Are we approaching a consensus? Atherosclerosis 2013;226:315-20.

Willems S, Vink A, Bot I, Quax PH, de Borst GJ, de Vries JP, van de Weg SM, Moll FL, Kuiper J, Kovanen PT, de Kleijn DP, Hoefer IE, Pasterkamp G. Mast cells in human carotid atherosclerotic plaques are associated with intraplaque microvessel density and the occurrence of future cardiovascular events. Eur Heart J 2013;34:3699-706.

PhD Theses

Suvi Syväranta, MD, PhD: Mechanisms of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in calcific aortic valve stenosis, University of Helsinki 2013.

Wei Zheng, PhD: Regulation of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis by endothelial cell signaling molecules, University of Helsinki 2013.