scholarly journals Galectin-3- Mediated Transdifferentiation of Pulmonary Artery Endothelial Cells Contributes to Hypoxic Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 763-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Zhang ◽  
Yu-mei Li ◽  
Xi-xi Zeng ◽  
Xiao-yan Wang ◽  
Shao-kun Chen ◽  
...  

Background/Aims: Vascular muscularity is a key event in vessel remodeling during pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH). Endothelial-mesenchymal transdifferentiation (EndMT) has been increasingly reported to play a role in disease occurrence. Galectin-3, a carbohydrate-binding protein regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and neovascularization. However, whether galectin-3 controls endothelial cell transdifferentiation during the development of PAH is unknown. Methods: Rats were exposed to normoxic or hypoxic conditions (fraction of inspired O2 0.10) for 21 d to establish PAH models. Hemodynamic changes were evaluated through surgery of the right jugular vein and ultrasound biomicroscopy inviVue. And vessel pathological alterations were detected by H&E staining. Galectin-3 (Gal-3)-induced pulmonary artery endothelium cell (PAEC) dynamic alterations were measured by MTT assays, Cell immunofluorescence, Flow cytometry, Real-time PCR and Western blot. Results: Our study demonstrated that Gal-3 was expressed in hypoxic pulmonary vascular adventitia and intima. The increased Gal-3 expression was responsible for hypoxic vessel remodeling and PAH development in vivo. Gal-3 was found to inhibit cell proliferation and apoptosis in cultured endothelial cells. Meanwhile endothelial cell morphology was altered and exhibited smooth muscle-like cell features as demonstrated by the expression of α-SMA after Gal-3 treatment. Gal-3 activated Jagged1/Notch1 pathways and induced MyoD and SRF. When MyoD or SRF were silenced with siRNAs, Gal-3-initiated transdifferentiation in endothelial cells was blocked as indicated by a lack of α-SMA. Conclusion: These results suggest that Gal-3 induces PAECs to acquire an α-SMA phenotype via a transdifferentiation process which depends on the activation of Jagged1/Notch1 pathways that mediate MyoD and SRF expression.

1998 ◽  
Vol 275 (3) ◽  
pp. L593-L600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leopold Stiebellehner ◽  
James K. Belknap ◽  
Beverly Ensley ◽  
Alan Tucker ◽  
E. Christopher Orton ◽  
...  

Tremendous changes in pressure and flow occur in the pulmonary and systemic circulations after birth, and these hemodynamic changes should markedly affect endothelial cell replication. However, in vivo endothelial replication rates in the neonatal period have not been reported. To label replicating endothelial cells, we administered the thymidine analog bromodeoxyuridine to calves ∼1, 4, 7, 10, and 14 days old before they were killed. Because we expected the ratio of replicating to nonreplicating cells to vary with vascular segment, we examined the main pulmonary artery, a large elastic artery, three sizes of intrapulmonary arteries, the aorta, and the carotid artery. In normoxia for arteries < 1,500 μm, ∼27% of the endothelial cells were labeled on day 1 but only ∼2% on day 14. In the main pulmonary artery, only ∼4% of the endothelial cells were labeled on day 1 and ∼2% on day 14. In contrast, in the aorta, ∼12% of the endothelial cells were labeled on day 1 and ∼2% on day 14. In chronically hypoxic animals, only ∼14% of the endothelial cells were labeled on day 1 in small lung arteries and ∼8% were still labeled on day 14. We conclude that the postnatal circulatory adaptation to extrauterine life includes significant changes in endothelial cell proliferation that vary dramatically with time and vascular location and that these changes are altered in chronic hypoxia.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Zhang ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Xiangfeng Wu ◽  
Ying Wang ◽  
Xuanqin Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is the leading cause of lower limb amputation. Traditional treatments for CLI have limitations. Studies have shown that thrombospondin-4 (TSP4) can promote the growth of neovascularization. Results: In this study, we observed the angiogenesis efficiency of TSP4-overexpressing BMSC transplantation in CLI treatment. The recombinant FT106-tsp4-gfp lentiviral vector plasmid was constructed and transfected into 293FT cells. Primary BMSCs were successfully infected with the tsp4 virus, and TSP4 overexpression was confirmed before TSP4-BMSCs infusion. In vitro, TSP4-BMSCs were co-cultured with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) secretion were measured in the co-culture supernatants by ELISA. The effect of TSP4-BMSCs on endothelial cell proliferation and migration was detected. Meanwhile, the effects of TSP4-BMSC on the angiogenesis of endothelial cells were tested by tube formation experiment and arterial ring test. In vivo, a rat CLI model was established, and 60 CLI rats were randomly divided into the CLI, BMSC + CLI and TSP4-BMSC + CLI groups. The effect of TSP4-BMSC on angiogenesis was detected by the motor function, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining assays. Neovascular density was detected by digital substraction angiography (DSA). Our results demonstrated that TSP4-BMSCs obviously increased TSP4, VEGF, Ang-1, MMP9, MMP2 and p-Cdc42/Rac1 expression in endothelial cells. TSP4-BMSCs treatment notably upregulated the TGF-β/smad2/3 signal pathway in HUVECs. In vivo, TSP4-BMSCs improved the motor function score of the CLI rats and increased MMP2, MMP9, Ang-1, VEGF and vWF protein expression in tissue of the ischaemic area. Meanwhile, new blood vessels can be observed around the ischemic area after TSP4-BMSCs treatment. Conclusion: Our data illustrate that TSP4-BMSCs can promote endothelial cell proliferation, migration, tube formation and the recovery of motor function in diabetic hind limb ischaemic rats. TSP4-BMSCs have better therapeutic effects than BMSCs.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Zhang ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Xiangfeng Wu ◽  
Ying Wang ◽  
Xuanqin Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is the leading cause of lower limb amputation. Traditional treatments for CLI have limitations. Studies have shown that thrombospondin-4 (TSP4) can promote the growth of neovascularization. In this study, we observed the angiogenesis efficiency of TSP4-overexpressing BMSC transplantation in CLI treatment. Methods The recombinant FT106-tsp4-gfp lentiviral vector plasmid was constructed and transfected into 293FT cells. Primary BMSCs were successfully infected with the tsp4 virus, and TSP4 overexpression was confirmed before TSP4-BMSCs infusion. In vitro, TSP4-BMSCs were co-cultured with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) secretion were measured in the co-culture supernatants by ELISA. The effect of TSP4-BMSCs on endothelial cell proliferation and migration was detected. Meanwhile, the effects of TSP4-BMSC on the angiogenesis of endothelial cells were tested by tube formation experiment and arterial ring test. In vivo, a rat CLI model was established, and 60 CLI rats were randomly divided into the CLI, BMSC + CLI and TSP4-BMSC + CLI groups. The effect of TSP4-BMSC on angiogenesis was detected by the motor function, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining assays. Neovascular density was detected by digital substraction angiography (DSA). Results Our results demonstrated that TSP4-BMSCs obviously increased TSP4, VEGF, Ang-1, MMP9, MMP2 and p-Cdc42/Rac1 expression in endothelial cells. TSP4-BMSCs treatment notably upregulated the TGF-β/smad2/3 signal pathway in HUVECs. In vivo, TSP4-BMSCs improved the motor function score of the CLI rats and increased MMP2, MMP9, Ang-1, VEGF and vWF protein expression in tissue of the ischaemic area. Meanwhile, new blood vessels can be observed around the ischemic area after TSP4-BMSCs treatment. Conclusions Our data illustrate that TSP4-BMSCs can promote endothelial cell proliferation, migration, tube formation and the recovery of motor function in diabetic hind limb ischaemic rats. TSP4-BMSCs have better therapeutic effects than BMSCs.


Author(s):  
Wang L ◽  
◽  
Shao H ◽  
Che B ◽  
Wang N ◽  
...  

Background and Objectives: Pulmonary Artery Hypertension (PAH) is considered as a malignant tumor in cardiovascular disease. Our previous study found that Calcium-Sensing Receptor (CaSR) is involved in pulmonary vascular remodeling in hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (HPH). However, the relationship of Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Cell (PASMC) phenotypic switching, proliferation, and autophagy in CaSR-related HPH remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to detect the role of a CaSR antagonist, NPS2143, on the vascular remodeling by autophagy modulation under hypoxia. Methods: Hypoxic rat PAH model were simulated in vivo. Meanwhile, mean Pulmonary Artery Pressure (mPAP) was measured while RVI, WT%, and WA% indices were calculated. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot were used to detect phenotypic switching and cell proliferation in pulmonary arteriole. Cell viability was determined in vitro by CCK8 and cell cycle. Cell proliferation, phenotypic switching, autophagy level and PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathways were investigated in human PASMCs through mRNA or Western blot methods. Results: Rats with hypoxic-induced PAH had an increased mPAP, RVI, WT% and WA%. Moreover, expression of CaSR was significantly increased, followed by activation of autophagy (increased LC3b and decreased p62), phenotypic switching of PASMCs (reduced calponin, SMA-a and increased OPN) and pulmonary vascular remodeling. However, NPS2143 weakened these hypoxic effects. The results using hypoxic-induced human PASMCs confirmed that NPS2143 suppressed autophagy and reversed phenotypic switching in vitro by inhibiting PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathways. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that NPS2143 was conducive to inhibit the proliferation and reverse phenotypic switching of PASMCs by regulating autophagy levels in HPH and vascular remodeling.


Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 1897-1897
Author(s):  
Kira Braemswig ◽  
Marina Poettler ◽  
Wazlawa Kalinowska ◽  
Christoph Zielinski ◽  
Gerald W Prager

Abstract Human carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a cell surface adhesion molecule member of the Immunoglobulin Superfamily (IgSF). Aberrant upregulation and secretion of soluble CEA is a common feature found in a wide variety of human cancers such as colon, breast and lung. Previous in vitro and in vivo results have demonstrated that CEA can affect tumor cell behavior including the inhibition of cell differentiation and apoptosis. However, any functional effects on angiogenic endothelial cell behavior are so far unknown. In the present work we found that in endothelial cells exogenous CEA led to a time and dose dependent increase in ERK phosphorylation, which was inhibited by the specific MEK inhibitor U0126. Thereby, the observed CEA effect was comparable in time and intense with the canonical angiogenic growth factor VEGF. The CEA-induced ERK phosphorylation was not affected by the blockage of VEGFR-2 / flk-1 using a specific inhibiting peptide (CBO-P11), which indicates a VEGF-independent mechanism. Furthermore, co-stimulation of endothelial cells with VEGF and CEA shows synergistic effects on ERK phosphorylation. While in endothelial cells no endogenous expression of CEA is detected, its putative receptor, the CEA receptor (CEAR), is highly expressed as shown by immunohistochemical staining of paraffin-embedded colon carcinoma sections as well as in biochemical analyses. When an activating antibody against CEAR was used, CEA-induced ERK phosphorylation was mimicked, while downregulation of CEAR by siRNA diminished CEA-induced signal transduction, significantly. To test a biological relevance of our findings, we first measured endothelial cell proliferation: CEA led to a dose dependent increase in endothelial cell proliferation in vitro, which again revealed a synergistic effect with VEGF. Thereby, CEA-induced endothelial cell proliferation was again independent of VEGFR-2 / flk-1. A biological role of CEA in tumor-angiogenesis was reflected by an in vivo model using CEA Mimotope immunized BALB/c mice, which were transplanted with MethA/CEA overexpressing tumor cells. Immunohistological analyses of these tumors revealed a significantly reduced vascular density, which was accompanied with diminished tumor growth. Our data provide first evidence of CEA as a novel pro-angiogenic activator of endothelial cells, which results in an increase in endothelial cell proliferation, independent of VEGFR-2. Furthermore, by targeting CEA in an in vivo mouse model, tumor-angiogenesis was markley reduced, indicating a potential therapeutic target in cancer.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. p35
Author(s):  
Alexander E. Berezin

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is multifactorial disadptive disease with poor clinical outcomes associated with increased pulmonary artery pressure resulting in primary small-to-moderate pulmonary artery remodeling. Numerous factors, including smooth muscle cell proliferation, vasospasm, vascular fibrosis and occlusion, direct vascular injury and inflammation, impaired repair of vasculature, are involved in the pathogenesis of PAH. It has been suggested that galectin-3 as a biomarker of excessive fibrosis and inflammation can be useful predictor of both severity and prognosis in patient with PAH. The short communication is reported that elevated Gal-3 levels were found in majority patients with PAH depending on clinical status and of the disease. Although elevated Gal-3 levels were associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and right ventricle heart failure, the value of this biomarker in PAH patients at high risk stratification is uncertain and requires to be investigated in large clinical trials.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milad Bitar

Endothelial dysfunction, impaired angiogenesis and cellular senescence in type 2 diabetes constitute dominant risk factors for chronic non-healing wounds and other cardiovascular disorders. Studying these phenomena in the context of diabetes and the TSP1-CD-47 signaling dictated the use of the in vitro wound endothelial cultured system and an in vivo PVA sponge model of angiogenesis. Herein we report that diabetes impaired the in vivo sponge angiogenic capacity by decreasing cell proliferation, fibrovascular invasion and capillary density. In contrast, a heightened state of oxidative stress and elevated expression of TSP1 and CD47 both at the mRNA and protein levels were evident in this diabetic sponge model of wound healing. An in vitro culturing system involving wound endothelial cells confirmed the increase in ROS generation and the up-regulation of TSP1-CD47 signaling as a function of diabetes. We also provided evidence that diabetic wound endothelial cells (W-ECs) exhibited a characteristic feature that is consistent with cellular senescence. Indeed, enhanced SA-β-gal activity, cell cycle arrest, increased cell cycle inhibitors (CKIs) p53, p21 and p16 and decreased cell cycle promoters including Cyclin D1 and CDK4/6 were all demonstrated in these cells. The functional consequence of this cascade of events was illustrated by a marked reduction in diabetic endothelial cell proliferation, migration and tube formation. A genetic-based strategy in diabetic W-ECs using CD47 siRNA significantly ameliorated in these cells the excessiveness in oxidative stress, attenuation in angiogenic potential and more importantly the inhibition in cell cycle progression and its companion cellular senescence. To this end, the current data provide evidence linking the overexpression of TSP1-CD47 signaling in diabetes to a number of parameters associated with endothelial dysfunction including impaired angiogenesis, cellular senescence and a heightened state of oxidative stress. Moreover, it may also point to TSP1-CD47 as a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of the aforementioned pathologies.


Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 3923-3923
Author(s):  
Hongyu Ni ◽  
Balwant Chauhan ◽  
Steven Olson

Abstract Antithrombin (AT) is a single chain plasma glycoprotein that belongs to a superfamily of serine protease inhibitors (Serpin). AT is the major inhibitor of the serine proteases of the coagulation cascade, notably thrombin and factor Xa. In addition, AT has also been demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory properties. Recently, cleaved and latent forms of AT have been shown to function as antiangiogenic agents. However, the molecular mechanisms by which native AT and cleaved AT exert their anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic effects remains unknown. In this study, we have investigated the effects of both native and cleaved forms of AT on endothelial cell proliferation and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activation in the endothelial cells. Bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (BPAE) was used in the study. Human α-antithrombin was purified from plasma by affinity chromatography on heparin Sepharose, followed by anion-exchange chromatography. Cleaved form of AT was prepared by digestion of purified human AT with human neutrophil elastase, followed by chromatography on a heparin Sepharose column. The endothelial cells were stimulated with basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) or tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in culture and incubated with either native AT or cleaved AT. Endothelial cell proliferation was measured by the MTT (methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide) cell proliferation assay as well as by counting cell numbers before and after the treatment. The results demonstrate that both native AT and cleaved AT could inhibit bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cell proliferation. These results contrast with those reported with other types of endothelial cells such as human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in which only cleaved form but not native form of AT inhibits cell proliferation. NF-κB activation was detected by the ELISA-based assay using antibodies specific for the activated form of p50 and p65 subunit of the NF-κB. In native AT, the inhibitory activity of endothelial cell proliferation was associated with down-regulation of NF-κB as measured by decreased nuclear p65. However, the cleaved AT showed minimal effect on the NF-κB activation. Our results suggest that although both native and cleaved AT inhibit endothelial cell proliferation, they might use different signal transduction pathways. Moreover, our findings suggest that native and cleaved AT may have differential effects on different types of endothelial cells.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 1299-1313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shan Wang ◽  
Katherine R. Amato ◽  
Wenqiang Song ◽  
Victoria Youngblood ◽  
Keunwook Lee ◽  
...  

Mammaliantargetofrapamycin (mTOR) is a serine/threonine kinase that regulates a diverse array of cellular processes, including cell growth, survival, metabolism, and cytoskeleton dynamics. mTOR functions in two distinct complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2, whose activities and substrate specificities are regulated by complex specific cofactors, including Raptor and Rictor, respectively. Little is known regarding the relative contribution of mTORC1 versus mTORC2 in vascular endothelial cells. Using mouse models of Raptor or Rictor gene targeting, we discovered that Rictor ablation inhibited vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced endothelial cell proliferation and assemblyin vitroand angiogenesisin vivo, whereas the loss of Raptor had only a modest effect on endothelial cells (ECs). Mechanistically, the loss of Rictor reduced the phosphorylation of AKT, protein kinase Cα (PKCα), and NDRG1 without affecting the mTORC1 pathway. In contrast, the loss of Raptor increased the phosphorylation of AKT despite inhibiting the phosphorylation of S6K1, a direct target of mTORC1. Reconstitution of Rictor-null cells with myristoylated AKT (Myr-AKT) rescued vascular assembly in Rictor-deficient endothelial cells, whereas PKCα rescued proliferation defects. Furthermore, tumor neovascularizationin vivowas significantly decreased upon EC-specific Rictor deletion in mice. These data indicate that mTORC2 is a critical signaling node required for VEGF-mediated angiogenesis through the regulation of AKT and PKCα in vascular endothelial cells.


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