Biology subjects

Nazarian, R. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Nazarian, R. M..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Relaxin-2 drives regenerative healing and suppresses scar formation

Fibrotic scarring is a pervasive and unresolved challenge in medicine, leading to permanent disfigurement, impaired mobility, and severe disruption of basic skin functions including elasticity, barrier protection, and thermoregulation. Despite its far-reaching personal, clinical, and economic impact, affecting hundreds of millions worldwide after surgery, trauma, and burns, no effective treatments exist to halt or reverse pathological scar formation. Scarring results from uncontrolled TGF-b1 signaling, which drives excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins such as collagen-I/III and accumulation of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA), producing rigid, dysfunctional tissue. Here, we present a mechanistically guided approach targeting this unmet clinical need, leveraging the natural antifibrotic peptide hormone relaxin-2 (RLX-2) to actively remodel dermal architecture. RLX-2 signals via its G-protein coupled receptor RXFP1, upregulating matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and inhibiting aberrant ECM production. In TGF-b1-activated dermal fibroblasts across 2D and 3D in vitro models, ex vivo healthy and scarred human skin samples - cultured under physiological and pathological tension - and in an in vivo murine burn wound model, RLX-2 robustly suppresses fibrosis, restores regenerative tissue features, and rescues dermal architecture. Importantly, RLX-2 achieves this result without compromising the normal wound healing process, highlighting its potential as a transformative therapy for both prevention and reversal of pathological scarring.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2025

A Novel FNDC1-NAMPT-NAD axis is Implicated in Small and Large-vessel Arterial Disease and Drives Vascular Calcification

Vascular calcification represents a convergent pathological feature of diverse cardiovascular diseases, yet the upstream molecular programs orchestrating this process remain poorly defined. Here, we uncover fibronectin type III domain-containing 1 (FNDC1) as a previously unrecognized regulator of vascular calcification across both microvascular and macrovascular beds. Integrative transcriptomic profiling of human calciphylaxis lesions and atherosclerotic coronaries identified FNDC1 as one of the most significantly upregulated genes. In primary human vascular smooth muscle cells, FNDC1 drove osteogenic phenotype switch and vascular calcification through activation of PI3K/AKT signaling and metabolic reprogramming. Mechanistically, FNDC1 directly binds to nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) resulting in elevated intracellular NAD levels, thus coupling vascular signaling to control of NAD biosynthesis. In murine models, genetic deletion of Fndc1 or pharmacologic inhibition of NAMPT suppressed arterial calcification and prolonged survival. Clinically, circulating FNDC1 levels were elevated in patients with both calciphylaxis and coronary artery disease and independently predicted cardiovascular risk in 42,687 UK Biobank participants. Together, these findings establish FNDC1 as a central mediator of vascular pathology and highlight the FNDC1- NAMPT-NAD+ axis as a promising target for therapeutic intervention.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2019

A positively selected, common, missense variant in FBN1 confers a 2.2 centimeter reduction of height in the Peruvian population

Peruvians are among the shortest people in the world. To understand the genetic basis of short stature in Peru, we examined an ethnically diverse group of Peruvians and identified a novel, population-specific, missense variant in FBN1 (E1297G) that is significantly associated with lower height in the Peruvian population. Each copy of the minor allele (frequency = 4.7%) reduces height by 2.2 cm (4.4 cm in homozygous individuals). This is the largest effect size known for a common height-associated variant. This variant shows strong evidence of positive selection within the Peruvian population and is significantly more frequent in Native American populations from coastal regions of Peru compared to populations from the Andes or the Amazon, suggesting that short stature in Peruvians is the result of adaptation to the coastal environment. One Sentence SummaryA mutation found in Peruvians has the largest known effect on height for a common variant. This variant is specific to Native American ancestry.

genomics↗