May the Force be With You

May the Force be With You

Endothelial cells are your secret health agents – help them protect you

The 60,000 miles of blood vessels we have are lined by your Secret Cells – the endothelial cells. They protect you and are part of your health toolkit. I’m sure some people feel like it’s too late…I’d like to share some optimistic news.

As many of you who read this already know, the lining of your blood vessels is made of a single layer of cells called endothelial cells, and these cells are remarkably good at keeping your blood vessels healthy. But only as long as they stay true to their identity. We have been working in the lab to better understand what preserves their identity. A paper we just published, shows that a single molecular switch, a protein called ERG, is what keeps these cells in their protective state. When ERG levels fall – as happens in atherosclerosis and other vascular diseases – the cells begin quietly losing their identity at the genetic level long before anything looks visibly wrong. When they transform, they become a fundamentally different cell type that breaks down the vessel wall barrier and start migrating into places they shouldn't be. The most striking and hopeful finding of our paper is that this transformation is not necessarily permanent: when ERG levels are restored, the cells fully recover their identity and function. This suggests that if we preserve or restore endothelial identity in blood vessels, we may be able to reverse early vascular damage rather than simply slow it down. In other words, we need to protect our endothelial cells so they can keep acting as our secret health agents.

See a simplified concept picture below. Or read the article for free: https://rdcu.be/fgr7u.

Guess what? The beauty is that there are lots of things we can do to protect the cells that protect us.

So how can you help your endothelial cells? Plenty of simple things. Regular exercise. Good nutrition. Time in nature. Deep breathing to regulate your nervous system.

Challenge for you to consider:

· Can you spend 2 minutes doing slow deep breaths when you first wake?

· Is it possible to add foods with antioxidants to your meals – berries, purple kale, or mushrooms?

· Can you add a walk after your evening meal?

Kathryn