Electron Transfer Flavoprotein (ETF) <i>α</i> Controls Blood Vessel Development by Regulating Endothelial Mitochondrial Bioenergetics and Oxygen Consumption.

ABSTRACT: While impairment of vascular homeostasis induced by hypercholesterolemia is the first step of cardiovascular diseases, the molecular mechanism behind such impairment is not well known. Here, we reported that high-cholesterol diet (HCD) induced defective vessel sprouting in zebrafish larvae. Electron transfer flavoprotein subunit α (ETFα) (encoded by the ETFA gene), a protein that mediates transfer of electrons from a series of mitochondrial flavoenzymes to the respiratory chain, was downregulated in HCD-fed zebrafish and in endothelial cells treated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein. Knockdown of ETFα with morpholino antisense oligonucleotides reproduced vascular sprouting defects in zebrafish larvae, while replenishing with exogeneous ETFA mRNA could successfully

SUBMITTER: Yan Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8933654 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature