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Biomedical Engineering Research Seminar

B. Rita Alevriadou

University at Buffalo – SUNY

Abstract

Cell-derived Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) constitute an important mechanism of intercellular
communication with derangements in circulating levels of Endothelial Cell-derived EVs (EC-EVs)
reported in various cardiovascular diseases. EC-EVs are known to elicit either detrimental or restorative
effects on target ECs. While the significance of transfer of EV nucleic acid and protein cargo to target
cells has been investigated extensively, the role of the EV mitochondrial cargo in paracrine effects is
relatively unknown. We developed a flow cytometry-based assay and discovered that a significant
percentage of EC-EVs are mitochondria-containing (mitoEVs); cytokine-stimulated, but not control, ECs
majorly package depolarized mitochondria inside their EVs; depolarizing the mitochondrial cargo is
sufficient for EVs to elicit pro-inflammatory paracrine effects; and treatment of cytokine-stimulated ECs
with a mitochondria-targeted antioxidant results in a higher percentage of released EVs with a polarized
mitochondrial cargo. Our finding that the beneficial vs. harmful paracrine effects of EC-EVs may be, at
least in part, due to donation of polarized vs. depolarized mitochondria carried by mitoEVs may have
translational potential for protection of the vascular endothelium and prevention of cardiovascular disease
development.

Bio

Dr. Alevriadou received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from Rice University and did her postdoc at
the Scripps Research Institute. She served on the BME faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine and The Ohio State University, prior to joining the University at Buffalo-SUNY in 2019 as
Empire Innovation Professor in BME. Her expertise is in cardiovascular bioengineering, endothelial cell
mechanotransduction, and mitochondrial/free radical biology. Her research has been supported by the
NIH, AHA, and Foundations almost continuously since 1996. Dr. Alevriadou is a Fellow of BMES (was
elected on the Board of Directors, 2014-2017, and served on the Student Affairs and the Diversity
Committees, 2014-2018), and a member of NAVBO, SfRBM, AHA, and APS, as well as an Editorial
Board member of AJP-Cell Physiology, Scientific Reports, and NAVBO Alert. She regularly serves as a
grant reviewer on vascular biology- and bioengineering-related NIH, NSF, and AHA study sections, and
manuscript reviewer for cardiovascular and biomedical journals. Dr. Alevriadou has trained/graduated a
total of 22 MS students, PhD students, and postdoctoral fellows; 5 of her students and trainees are
currently tenured or tenure-track faculty in BME and associated Departments across the country and the
rest are employed in biomedical industries and government laboratories.

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