REVIEW article
Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Atherosclerosis and Vascular Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1618343
Protein Kinase C and Endothelial Dysfunction in Select Vascular Diseases
Provisionally accepted
Shawn Kant1,2*
Jun Feng1,2- 1Brown University, Providence, United States
- 2Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, United States
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Protein kinases have crucial roles in intracellular signal transduction pathways that affect a wide range of biochemical processes, including apoptosis, metabolism, proliferation, and protein synthesis. Vascular endothelial cells are important regulators of vasomotor tone, tissue/organ perfusion, and inflammation. Since its discovery in the late 1970s, a growing body of literature implicates protein kinase C (PKC) in pathways involving angiogenesis, endothelial permeability, microvascular tone, and endothelial activation. Hence the objective of this review, to characterize the role of PKC in vascular endothelial cells. After discussing the basic principles of PKC structure and function, the focus shifts to abnormal PKC activity driving endothelial dysfunction in three major pathologies whose hallmark is significant vascular disease: diabetes mellitus, hypoxia/ischemia-reperfusion injury, and hypertension. Themes addressed include endothelial cell cycle derangement, endothelial oxidative stress, endothelial activation/inflammation, and impaired endothelial barrier integrity. Achieving a comprehensive understanding of endothelial cell-PKC pathophysiology may lead to development of new therapeutic targets for mitigating morbidity and mortality in these disease states.
Keywords: PKC, endothelial2, vascular3, Diabetes4, hypertension5, ischemia-reperfusion6
Received: 25 Apr 2025; Accepted: 09 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kant and Feng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shawn Kant, Brown University, Providence, United States
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