NO. 85

CIMR Wednesday Lecture Series

Time:

Wednesday, Oct. 29 2025, 4:00 p.m.

Location:

Multi-Function Hall, 2nd Floor, North Basic Research Building

Host:

Deguang Liang (梁德光)

Chinese Institutes for Medical Research, Beijing

Speaker:

Wei Kong (孔炜)

Professor

Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University

TITLE:

Microenvironment Regulation of Atherosclerosis

ABSTRACT:

Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of cardiovascular diseases such as coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, and stroke. Current pharmacological strategies mainly focus on lowering cholesterol, yet over 60% of patients continue to experience residual risk, indicating the existence of other crucial pathogenic factors beyond lipids. Our work centers on the vascular microenvironment and systematically explores its regulatory role in atherosclerosis progression. We identified CYSLTR2 and P2RY6 as endogenous receptors for "the second cholesterol"—long-chain ceramides, and demonstrated that ceramides accelerate atherosclerosis progression via the receptors. We also investigated the vascular extracellular matrix (ECM) microenvironment and identified ADAMTS-7, a matrix-degrading enzyme, as a novel pathogenic gene in atherosclerosis, which was subsequently confirmed as new locus for human coronary heart disease and stroke in large-scale GWAS studies.

INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKER:

Wei Kong, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Dean of the School of Basic Medical Science, and Chair of the Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology at Peking University Health Science Center. Professor Kong was awarded as Distinguished Young Scholars from National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the Yangtze River Scholars Distinguished Professor, the Leading Talent of "Ten Thousand Plan", and the Fellow of the International Society for Heart Research (FISHR). She also leads multiple scientific research projects, including the Innovative Research Group, Key Program, International Cooperation Program from NSFC and the Ministry of Science and Technology. Her research investigates the regulation of microenvironment in vascular homeostasis and diseases (atherosclerosis, vascular calcification, and aortic aneurysms/dissections), particularly focusing on the role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and G Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs). The laboratory has published over 160 papers in journals such as Nature, Nature Reviews Cardiology, Circulation, and European Heart Journal. Professor Kong is an Associate Editor for American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology and serves on the editorial boards of Circulation Research and Matrix Biology.

SELECTED PAPERS: