Functional Long Non-coding RNAs in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Author(s):  
Amy Leung ◽  
Kenneth Stapleton ◽  
Rama Natarajan
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1484
Author(s):  
Matthew Bennett ◽  
Igor Ulitsky ◽  
Iraide Alloza ◽  
Koen Vandenbroeck ◽  
Vladislav Miscianinov ◽  
...  

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) provide vital contractile force within blood vessel walls, yet can also propagate cardiovascular pathologies through proliferative and pro-inflammatory activities. Such phenotypes are driven, in part, by the diverse effects of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) on gene expression. However, lncRNA characterisation in VSMCs in pathological states is hampered by incomplete lncRNA representation in reference annotation. We aimed to improve lncRNA representation in such contexts by assembling non-reference transcripts in RNA sequencing datasets describing VSMCs stimulated in vitro with cytokines, growth factors, or mechanical stress, as well as those isolated from atherosclerotic plaques. All transcripts were then subjected to a rigorous lncRNA prediction pipeline. We substantially improved coverage of lncRNAs responding to pro-mitogenic stimuli, with non-reference lncRNAs contributing 21–32% for each dataset. We also demonstrate non-reference lncRNAs were biased towards enriched expression within VSMCs, and transcription from enhancer sites, suggesting particular relevance to VSMC processes, and the regulation of neighbouring protein-coding genes. Both VSMC-enriched and enhancer-transcribed lncRNAs were large components of lncRNAs responding to pathological stimuli, yet without novel transcript discovery 33–46% of these lncRNAs would remain hidden. Our comprehensive VSMC lncRNA repertoire allows proper prioritisation of candidates for characterisation and exemplifies a strategy to broaden our knowledge of lncRNA across a range of disease states.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 1830-1837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shutong Shen ◽  
Huimin Jiang ◽  
Yihua Bei ◽  
Junjie Xiao ◽  
Xinli Li

Cardiac remodeling occurs after stress to the heart, manifested as pathological processes, including hypertrophy and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes, dysfunction of vascular endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells as well as differentiation and proliferation of fibroblasts, ultimately resulting in progression of cardiovascular diseases. Emerging evidence has revealed that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) acted as powerful and dynamic modifiers of cardiac remodeling. LncRNAs including Chaer, Chast, Mhrt, CHRF, ROR, H19, and MIAT have been implicated in cardiac hypertrophy while NRF, H19, APF, CARL, UCA, Mhrt and several other lncRNAs (n379599, n379519, n384640, n380433 and n410105) in cardiomyocyte loss and extracellular matrix remodeling. In addition, MALAT1 and TGFB2-OT1 have been reported to contribute to vascular endothelial cells dysfunction while lincRNA-p21 and lnc-Ang362 to vascular smooth muscle cells proliferation. Thus, manipulation of lncRNA expression levels through either the inhibition of disease-up-regulated lncRNAs or increasing disease-down-regulated lncRNAs represents novel therapeutic strategies for cardiac remodeling.


1989 ◽  
Vol 61 (03) ◽  
pp. 517-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter E Laug ◽  
Ruedi Aebersold ◽  
Ambrose Jong ◽  
Willian Rideout ◽  
Barbara L Bergman ◽  
...  

SummaryLarge arteries have a natural resistance to tumor cell invasion thought to be due to the production of protease inhibitors. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) representing the major cellular part of arteries were isolated from human aortas and grown in tissue culture. These cells were found to produce large amounts of inhibitors of plasminogen activators (PA). Fractionation of VSMC-conditioned medium by heparin-affigel chromatography separated three immunologically and functionally distinct PA inhibitors (PAI), namely PAI-1, PAI-2 and protease-nexin I. The three inhibitors were characterized by functional assays and immunoblotting. PA inhibitor 2 (PAI-2) had little affinity for heparin, whereas PA inhibitor 1 (PAI-l) bound to heparin and was eluted from the column at NaCl concentrations of 0. 1 to 0.35 M. Protease-nexin I, eluted at NaCl concentrations of 0.5 M and higher. Most of the PAI-1 was present in the latent, inactive form. PAI-1 was further purified by ion exchange chromatography on a Mono-Q column. Partial sequencing of the purified PAI-1 confirmed its nature by matching completely with the sequence deduced from the cDNA nucleotide sequence of endothelial cell PAI-1. Thus, human VSMC produce all three presently known PAI and these can be separated in a single heparin affinity purification step.


1995 ◽  
Vol 74 (03) ◽  
pp. 980-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valérie B Schini-Kerth ◽  
Beate Fißithaler ◽  
Thomas T Andersen ◽  
John W Fenton ◽  
Paul M Vanhoutte ◽  
...  

SummaryProteolytically active forms of thrombin (α- and γ-thrombin) and thrombin receptor peptides inhibited the release of nitrite, a stable endproduct of nitric oxide, evoked by interleukin-1 β(IL-1 β) in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells while proteolytically inactive forms [D-Phe-Pro-Arg chloromethyl ketone-α-thrombin (PPACK-α- thrombin) and diisopropylphosphoryl-α-thrombin (DIP-α-thrombin)] had either no or only minimal inhibitory effects. Under bioassay conditions, perfusates from columns containing IL-1 β-activated vascular smooth muscle cells or cells treated with IL-1βplus PPACK-α-thrombin relaxed detector blood vessels. These relaxations were abolished by the inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis, NG-nitro-L arginine. No relaxations were obtained with untreated cells or IL-1 β-treated cells in the presence of α-thrombin. The expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA and protein in vascular smooth muscle cells by IL-1 β was impaired by α-thrombin. These results demonstrate that thrombin regulates the expression of the inducible nitric oxide synthase at a transcriptional level via the proteolytic activation of the thrombin receptor in vascular smooth muscle cells


1985 ◽  
Vol 53 (02) ◽  
pp. 165-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter E Laug

SummaryTPure cultures of bovine endothelial cells (EC) produce and secrete large amounts of plasminogen activators (PA). Cocultivation of EC with vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) resulted in a significant decrease of PA activities secreted by the EC, whereas the cellular PA activities remained unaffected. Secreted PA activities were absent in the growth medium as long as the SMC to EC ratio was 2:1 or higher. The PA inhibitory activity of the SMC was rapid and cell-to-cell contact was not necessary.The PA inhibitory activity was present in homogenates of SMC as well as in the medium conditioned by them but not in the extracellular matrix elaborated by these cells. Serum free medium conditioned by SMC neutralized both tissue type (t-PA) and urokinase like (u-PA) plasminogen activators. Gel electrophoretic analysis of SMC conditioned medium followed by reverse fibrin autography demonstrated PA inhibitory activities in the molecular weight (Mr) range of 50,000 to 52,000 similar to those present in media conditioned by bovine endothelial cells or fibroblasts. Regular fibrin zymography of SMC conditioned medium incubated with u-PA or t-PA revealed the presence of a component with a calculated approximate Mr of 45,000 to 50,000 which formed SDS resistant complexes with both types of PA.These data demonstrate that vascular SMC produce and secrete (a) inhibitor(s) of PAs which may influence the fibrinolytic potential of EC.


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