Rihab Bouchareb, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Clinical Interests

Dr. Bouchareb is a North African women scientist interested in studying the crosstalk between obesity and aortic valve calcification. She developed a new mouse model combining both abdominal obesity and aortic stenosis, to examine valve lipid retention. Aortic stenosis is a fibrocalcific disease characterized by both fibrosis and calcification. Previous studies showed the accumulation of proteoglycans accompanied by lipid retention in calcified valve tissue. We recently used mass spectrometry analysis and RNA sequencing to discover new extracellular matrix protein markers, MXRA5 and FNDC1, in human calcified valve tissue. The study was published in JACC.

Research Interests

Dr. Bouchareb is extending her research to study the interaction between kidney disease and cardiovascular events, such as the progression of aortic stenosis and vascular calcification. She generated tubular and endothelial glomerular cell lines expressing photo-switchable fluorescent mitochondria. Indeed, this cell lines are an excellent tool for studying mitochondria fission-fusion events in response to different treatments in vitro. Dr. Bouchareb gets awarded two grants to examine new approaches based on mitochondria transplantation to restore kidney function.

Educational Background

2023 — Minority Faculty Leadership training, AAMC, Puerto Rico

Honors & Awards

2011 — The 3rd Prize for the best image contest in scanning electron microscopy, French Society of Electron Microscopy, SMFU. France
2011 — The 4th Prize for the best image contest in scanning electron microscopy, Network common microscopy center RCCM, France.
2013 — Featured Research Award, Canadian Cardiovascular Society, Montreal 2013 The 2nd best presentation, Surgery Department, Laval University, Quebec
2014 — 1st prize for the best presentation, Surgery Department, Laval University
2014 — The best electron microscopy image contest, FEI Company.
2014 — The Second Prize for the best presentation, Heart and Lung Institute
2015 — Best Basic Research Presentation, Quebec Heart and Lung Institute, Canada
2016 — Best Basic Research Award, Quebec Heart and Lung Institute, Canada
2017 — Feature Research Award, Canadian Cardiovascular Society, Vancouver. Canada.
2017 — Trainee Research Award – Basic Science, Canadian Cardiovascular Society, Vancouver. Canada.
2018 — Best Basic Research Award, Quebec Research Foundation. FRQS
2019 — Team Science Award, Dr Jason Kovacic Lab, Mount Sinai. New York.
2020 — Promising Young Investigator Travel Award, Mount Sinai, New York.
2022 — Young Investigator Travel Award, Journal of Clinical Medicine, Switzerland.
2023 — Marquis Who is who in America, autobiography publication.

Digital Bibliography

NCBI My Bibliography

Additional Publications

Bouchareb R, Boulanger MC, Fournier D, Pibarot P, Messaddeq Y, Mathieu P. Mechanical strain induces the production of spheroid mineralized microparticles in the aortic valve through a RhoA/ROCK-dependent mechanism. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2014 Feb;67:49-59. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2013.12.009. Epub 2013 Dec 22. PubMed PMID: 24368096.

Mahmut A, Boulanger MC, El Husseini D, Fournier D, Bouchareb R, Després JP, Pibarot P, Bossé Y, Mathieu P. Elevated expression of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 in calcific aortic valve disease: implications for valve mineralization. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014 Feb 11;63(5):460-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2013.05.105. Epub 2013 Oct 23. PubMed PMID: 24161325.

El Husseini D, Boulanger MC, Mahmut A, Bouchareb R, Laflamme MH, Fournier D, Pibarot P, Bossé Y, Mathieu P. P2Y2 receptor represses IL-6 expression by valve interstitial cells through Akt: implication for calcific aortic valve disease. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2014 Jul;72:146-56. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2014.02.014. Epub 2014 Mar 11. PubMed PMID: 24631773.

Le Quang K, Bouchareb R, Lachance D, Laplante MA, El Husseini D, Boulanger MC, Fournier D, Fang XP, Avramoglu RK, Pibarot P, Deshaies Y, Sweeney G, Mathieu P, Marette A. Early development of calcific aortic valve disease and left ventricular hypertrophy in a mouse model of combined dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2014 Oct;34(10):2283-91. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.114.304205. Epub 2014 Aug 14. PubMed PMID: 25231636.

Asselin J, Roy C, Boudreau D, Messaddeq Y, Bouchareb R, Mathieu P. Supported core-shell nanobiosensors for quantitative fluorescence imaging of extracellular pH. Chem Commun (Camb). 2014 Nov 18;50(89):13746-9. doi: 10.1039/c4cc06075j. PubMed PMID: 25251465.

Mahmut A, Boulanger MC, Bouchareb R, Hadji F, Mathieu P. Adenosine derived from ecto-nucleotidases in calcific aortic valve disease promotes mineralization through A2a adenosine receptor. Cardiovasc Res. 2015 Apr 1;106(1):109-20. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvv027. Epub 2015 Feb 2. PubMed PMID: 25644539.

Bouchareb R, Côté N, Marie-Chloé-Boulanger, Le Quang K, El Husseini D, Asselin J, Hadji F, Lachance D, Shayhidin EE, Mahmut A, Pibarot P, Bossé Y, Messaddeq Y, Boudreau D, Marette A, Mathieu P. Carbonic anhydrase XII in valve interstitial cells promotes the regression of calcific aortic valve stenosis. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2015 May;82:104-15. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2015.03.002. Epub 2015 Mar 11. PubMed PMID: 25771146.  

Bouchareb R, Mahmut A, Nsaibia MJ, Boulanger MC, Dahou A, Lépine JL, Laflamme MH, Hadji F, Couture C, Trahan S, Pagé S, Bossé Y, Pibarot P, Scipione CA, Romagnuolo R, Koschinsky ML, Arsenault BJ, Marette A, Mathieu P. Autotaxin Derived From Lipoprotein(a) and Valve Interstitial Cells Promotes Inflammation and Mineralization of the Aortic Valve. Circulation. 2015 Aug 25;132(8):677-90. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.016757. Epub 2015 Jul 29. PubMed PMID: 26224810.

Mahmut A, Mahjoub H, Boulanger MC, Dahou A, Bouchareb R, Capoulade R, Arsenault BJ, Larose E, Bossé Y, Pibarot P, Mathieu P. Circulating Lp-PLA2 is associated with high valvuloarterial impedance and low arterial compliance in patients with aortic valve bioprostheses. Clin Chim Acta. 2016 Apr 1;455:20-5. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2016.01.014. Epub 2016 Jan 18. PubMed PMID: 26797670.

Nsaibia MJ, Mahmut A, Boulanger MC, Arsenault BJ, Bouchareb R, Simard S, Witztum JL, Clavel MA, Pibarot P, Bossé Y, Tsimikas S, Mathieu P. Autotaxin interacts with lipoprotein(a) and oxidized phospholipids in predicting the risk of calcific aortic valve stenosis in patients with coronary artery disease. J Intern Med. 2016 Nov;280(5):509-517. doi: 10.1111/joim.12519. Epub 2016 May 30. PubMed PMID: 27237700.

Nsaibia MJ, Mahmut A, Mahjoub H, Dahou A, Bouchareb R, Boulanger MC, Després JP, Bossé Y, Arsenault BJ, Larose E, Pibarot P, Mathieu P. Association between plasma lipoprotein levels and bioprosthetic valve structural degeneration. Heart. 2016 Dec 1;102(23):1915-1921. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2016-309541. Epub 2016 Jul 4. PubMed PMID: 27378363.

Hadji F, Boulanger MC, Guay SP, Gaudreault N, Amellah S, Mkannez G, Bouchareb R, Marchand JT, Nsaibia MJ, Guauque-Olarte S, Pibarot P, Bouchard L, Bossé Y, Mathieu P. Altered DNA Methylation of Long Noncoding RNA H19 in Calcific Aortic Valve Disease Promotes Mineralization by Silencing NOTCH1. Circulation. 2016 Dec 6;134(23):1848-1862. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.116.023116. Epub 2016 Oct 27. PubMed PMID: 27789555.

Nsaibia MJ, Boulanger MC, Bouchareb R, Mkannez G, Le Quang K, Hadji F, Argaud D, Dahou A, Bossé Y, Koschinsky ML, Pibarot P, Arsenault BJ, Marette A, Mathieu P. OxLDL-derived lysophosphatidic acid promotes the progression of aortic valve stenosis through a LPAR1-RhoA-NF-κB pathway. Cardiovasc Res. 2017 Sep 1;113(11):1351-1363. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvx089. PubMed PMID: 28472283; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5852522.

Nsaibia MJ, Boulanger MC, Bouchareb R, Mkannez G, Dahou A, Salaun E, Bossé Y, Clavel MA, Arsenault BJ, Pibarot P, Mathieu P. Soluble CD14 is associated with the structural failure of bioprostheses. Clin Chim Acta. 2018 Oct;485:173-177. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2018.06.045. Epub 2018 Jun 30. PubMed PMID: 29966619.

Sellers SL, Turner CT, Sathananthan J, Cartlidge TRG, Sin F, Bouchareb R, Mooney J, Nørgaard BL, Bax JJ, Bernatchez PN, Dweck MR, Granville DJ, Newby DE, Lauck S, Webb JG, Payne GW, Pibarot P, Blanke P, Seidman MA, Leipsic JA. Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valves: Histological Analysis Providing Insight to Leaflet Thickening and Structural Valve Degeneration. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2019 Jan;12(1):135-145. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2018.06.028. Epub 2018 Nov 15. PubMed PMID: 30448122.

Mathiyalagan P, Adamiak M, Mayourian J, Sassi Y, Liang Y, Agarwal N, Jha D, Zhang S, Kohlbrenner E, Chepurko E, Chen J, Trivieri MG, Singh R, Bouchareb R, Fish K, Ishikawa K, Lebeche D, Hajjar RJ, Sahoo S. FTO-Dependent N6-Methyladenosine Regulates Cardiac Function During Remodeling and Repair. Circulation. 2019 Jan 22;139(4):518-532. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.033794. PubMed PMID: 29997116; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6400591.

Bouchareb R, Boulanger MC, Tastet L, Mkannez G, Nsaibia MJ, Hadji F, Dahou A, Messadeq Y, Arsenault BJ, Pibarot P, Bossé Y, Marette A, Mathieu P. Activated platelets promote an osteogenic programme and the progression of calcific aortic valve stenosis. Eur Heart J. 2019 May 1;40(17):1362-1373. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehy696. PubMed PMID: 30395215; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6492053.

Olin JW, Di Narzo AF, d'Escamard V, Kadian-Dodov D, Cheng H, Georges A, King A, Thomas A, Barwari T, Michelis KC, Bouchareb R, Bander E, Anyanwu A, Stelzer P, Filsoufi F, Florman S, Civelek M, Debette S, Jeunemaitre X, Björkegren JLM, Mayr M, Bouatia-Naji N, Hao K, Kovacic JC. A plasma proteogenomic signature for fibromuscular dysplasia. Cardiovasc Res. 2020 Jan 1;116(1):63-77. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvz219. PubMed PMID: 31424497; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6918065.

Perazza LR, Mitchell PL, Jensen BAH, Daniel N, Boyer M, Varin TV, Bouchareb R, Nachbar RT, Bouchard M, Blais M, Gagné A, Joubert P, Sweeney G, Roy D, Arsenault BJ, Mathieu P, Marette A. Dietary sucrose induces metabolic inflammation and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases more than dietary fat in LDLr-/-ApoB100/100 mice. Atherosclerosis. 2020 Jul;304:9-21. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2020.05.002. Epub 2020 May 24. PubMed PMID: 32563005.

Bouchareb R, Katz M, Saadallah N, Sassi Y, Ali S, Lebeche D. Boron improves cardiac contractility and fibrotic remodeling following myocardial infarction injury. Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 13;10(1):17138. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-73864-w. PubMed PMID: 33051505; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7553911.

Bouchareb R, Guauque-Olarte S, Snider J, Zaminski D, Anyanwu A, Stelzer P, Lebeche D. Proteomic Architecture of Valvular Extracellular Matrix: FNDC1 and MXRA5 Are New Biomarkers of Aortic Stenosis. JACC Basic Transl Sci. 2021 Jan;6(1):25-39. doi: 10.1016/j.jacbts.2020.11.008. eCollection 2021 Jan. PubMed PMID: 33532664; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7838057.

Singh R, Kaundal RK, Zhao B, Bouchareb R, Lebeche D. Resistin induces cardiac fibroblast-myofibroblast differentiation through JAK/STAT3 and JNK/c-Jun signaling. Pharmacol Res. 2021 May;167:105414. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.105414. Epub 2021 Jan 29. PubMed PMID: 33524540; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8085100.

Bouchareb R, Lebeche D. Isolation of Mouse Interstitial Valve Cells to Study the Calcification of the Aortic Valve In Vitro. J Vis Exp. 2021 May 10;(171). doi: 10.3791/62419. PubMed PMID: 34028451.

Zhao B, Bouchareb R, Lebeche D. Resistin deletion protects against heart failure injury by targeting DNA damage response. Cardiovasc Res. 2021 Jul 29;. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvab234. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 34324657.

Maiko Matsui, Rihab Bouchareb, Mara Storto , Yasin Hussain , Andrew Gregg , Steven O Marx, Geoffrey S Pitt. Increased Ca2+ influx through CaV1.2 drives aortic valve calcification. J Clin Med. 2022 Jun 10;11(12):3331. doi: 10.3390/jcm11123331.

Alexander J Fletcher, Jennifer Nash, Maaz B J Syed, Mark G Macaskill, Adriana A S Tavares, Niki Walker, Hannah Salcudean, Jonathon A Leipsic, Kelvin H H Lim, Jillian Madine, William Wallace, Mark Field, David E Newby, Rihab Bouchareb, Michael A Seidman, Riaz Akhtar, Stephanie L Sellers. ATVB. 2022 Aug;42(8):1048-1059. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.122.317111. Epub 2022 Jun 30.

Rihab Bouchareb, Liping Yu, Emelie Lassen, Ilse S. Daehn. Isolation of Conditionally Immortalized Mouse Glomerular Endothelial Cells with Fluorescent Mitochondria. JOVE. September 13th, 2022. DOI:10.3791/64147.

Fletcher AJ, Nash J, Syed MBJ, Macaskill MG, Tavares AAS, Walker N, Salcudean H, Leipsic JA, Lim KHH, Madine J, Wallace W, Field M, Newby DE, Bouchareb R, Seidman MA, Akhtar R, Sellers SL. Microcalcification and Thoracic Aortopathy: A Window Into Disease Severity. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2022 Aug;42(8):1048-1059. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.122.317111. Epub 2022 Jun 30. PMID: 35770666

David Meier, Geoffrey W. Payne, Leila B. Mostaço-Guidolin, Rihab Bouchareb, , Rob Fraser, Althea Lai, Andrew G. Chatfield, Mariama Akodad, Hannah Salcudean, Georg Lutter, Thomas Puehler, Philippe Pibarot, Keith B. Allen, Adnan Chhatriwalla, Lars Sondergaard, David Wood, John G. Webb, MD a, c, Jonathon A. Leipsic, MD c, Janarthanan Sathananthan, Stephanie L. Sellers. Timing of bioprosthetic valve fracture in transcatheter valve-in-valve intervention: impact on valve durability and leaflet integrity. EuroIntervention, 2023 Feb 20;18(14):1165-1177. doi: 10.4244/EIJ-D-22-00644.

Wang Q, Qi H, Wu Y, Yu L, Bouchareb R, Li S, Lassén E, Casalena G, Stadler K, Ebefors K, Yi Z, Shi S, Salem F, Gordon R, Lu L, Williams RW, Duffield J, Zhang W, Itan Y, Böttinger E, Daehn I. Genetic susceptibility to diabetic kidney disease is linked to promoter variants of XOR. Nat Metab. 2023 Apr 6. doi: 10.1038/s42255-023-00776-0. Online ahead of print. PMID: 37024752.

Mathieu P, Boulanger MC, Bouchareb R. Molecular biology of calcific aortic valve disease: towards new pharmacological therapies. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2014 Jul;12(7):851-62. doi: 10.1586/14779072.2014.923756. Epub 2014 May 24. Review. PubMed PMID: 24857537.

Mathieu P, Bouchareb R, Boulanger MC. Innate and Adaptive Immunity in Calcific Aortic Valve Disease. J Immunol Res. 2015;2015: 851945. doi: 10.1155/2015/851945. Epub 2015 May 3. Review. PubMed PMID: 26065007; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4433691.

Stephanie L. Sellers, Gaurav S. Gulsin, Devyn Zaminski, Rong Bing, Azeem Latib, MD,f,g Janarthanan Sathananthan, Philippe Pibarot, Rihab Bouchareb. Platelets: Implications in aortic valve stenosis and bioprosthetic valve dysfunction from pathophysiology to clinical care. JACC Basic Transl Sci 2021 Nov 17;6(12):1007-1020. doi: 10.1016/j.jacbts.2021.07.008.

Emelie Lassén, Rihab Bouchareb, Ilse S Daehn. Podocyte as the link between sterile inflammation and diabetic kidney disease. Kidney Int 2022 Oct;102(4):688-690. doi: 10.1016/j.kint.2022.07.015. Invited Contributions