Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Human Adipose Tissue Vasculature Alters the Particulate Secretome and Induces Endothelial Dysfunction

Objective: Endothelial cells (EC) in obese adipose tissue (AT) are exposed to a chronic proinflammatory environment that may induce a mesenchymal-like phenotype and altered function. The objective of this study was to establish whether endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT) is present in human AT in obesity and to investigate the effect of such transition on endothelial function and the endothelial particulate secretome represented by...