Endothelial protein C receptor is expressed in rat cortical and hippocampal neurons and is necessary for protective effect of activated protein C at glutamate excitotoxicity

2009 ◽  
Vol 111 (4) ◽  
pp. 967-975 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyubov Gorbacheva ◽  
Olga Davidova ◽  
Elena Sokolova ◽  
Shin’ichi Ishiwata ◽  
Vsevolod Pinelis ◽  
...  
2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (11) ◽  
pp. 1150-1152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lubov Gorbacheva ◽  
Tatyana Storozhevykh ◽  
Vsevolod Pinelis ◽  
Shin'ichi Ishiwata ◽  
Svetlana Strukova

Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 26-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward J. Kerschen ◽  
Brian C. Cooley ◽  
Francis J. Castellino ◽  
John H. Griffin ◽  
Hartmut Weiler

Abstract Recombinant activated protein C (APC) reduces mortality of patients with severe inflammatory disease associated with multi-organ failure. APC exerts anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory, and cytoprotective effects. The contribution of these distinct APC activities to the overall therapeutic efficacy in septic patients is unknown. The aim of the study is to delineate the mechanism underlying the protective effect of APC in mouse endotoxemia. We first establish an experimental mouse model to demonstrate that recombinant murine APC reduces 6 day mortality of mice subjected to LPS-induced endotoxemia. APC treatment did not alter the extent of inflammatory cytokine release. Recombinant human APC did not exhibit therapeutic efficacy in this model. In contrast, recombinant human and mouse APC reduced to a similar extent experimentally induced arterial thrombus formation. The therapeutic efficacy of wild type recombinant murine APC was abolished in genetically engineered mice with reduced expression of the endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR). Recombinant mutant murine APC with greatly reduced anticoagulant potency was as effective as wild type murine APC in reducing mortality of mice subjected to LPS-induced septicemia. Mice homozygous for the Leiden polymorphism in the factor V (fV) gene, which renders coagulation factor V partially resistant to the anticoagulant effect of APC secondary to blocked fV proteolysis at R504 (R506 in humans), were refractory to the therapeutic benefit conveyed by administration of recombinant wild type mouse APC. In summary, these findings provide evidence that the therapeutic efficacy of recombinant APC is predominantly based on the ability of APC to interact with the endothelial protein C receptor, and that the anticoagulant activity of APC is not sufficient for achieving protection against mortality in a mouse model of endotoxemia. On the other hand, cleavage of fV at R506 appears necessary for retaining therapeutic efficacy in carriers of the fV Leiden allele.


Author(s):  
Di Ren ◽  
Julia Fedorova ◽  
Kayla Davitt ◽  
Tran Ngoc Van Le ◽  
John H Griffin ◽  
...  

Background: Activated protein C (APC) is a plasma serine protease with anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory activities. Endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) is associated with APC's activity and mediates its downstream signaling events. APC exerts cardioprotective effects during ischemia and reperfusion (I/R). This study aims to characterize the role of the APC-EPCR axis in ischemic insults in aging. Methods: Young (3-4 months) and aged (24-26 months) wild type C57BL/6J mice, as well as EPCR point mutation (EPCR R84A/R84A ) knock-in C57BL/6J mice incapable of interaction with APC and its wild type of littermate C57BL/6J mice, were subjected to I/R. Wild type APC, signaling-selective APC-2Cys, or anticoagulant-selective APC-E170A were administrated before reperfusion. Results: The results demonstrated that cardiac I/R reduces APC activity, and the APC activity was impaired in the aged versus young hearts possibly attributable to the declined EPCR level with aging. Serum EPCR measurement showed that I/R triggered the shedding of membrane EPCR into circulation, while administration of APC attenuated the I/R-induced EPCR shedding in both young and aged hearts. Subsequent echocardiography showed that APC and APC-2Cys but not APC-E170A ameliorated cardiac dysfunction during I/R in both young and aged mice. Importantly, APC elevated the resistance of the aged heart to ischemic insults through stabilizing EPCR. However, all these cardioprotective effects of APC were blunted in the EPCR R84A/R84A mice versus its wild-type littermates. The ex vivo working heart and metabolomics results demonstrated that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) mediates acute adaptive response while protein kinase B (AKT) is involved in chronic metabolic programming in the hearts with APC treatment. Conclusions: I/R stress causes shedding of the membrane EPCR in the heart, and administration of APC prevents I/R-induced cardiac EPCR shedding that is critical for limiting cardiac damage in aging.


2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjana Dayal ◽  
Sean X Gu ◽  
Katinan M Wilson ◽  
Ryan Hutchins ◽  
Steven R Lentz

In vitro studies have suggested that reactive oxygen species such as superoxide can produce prothrombotic effects, including enhanced platelet activation, increased tissue factor (TF) expression, and an oxidative modification in thrombomodulin impairing its capacity to enhance the generation of activated protein C (APC) by thrombin. It is not known, however, if elevated levels of superoxide accelerate susceptibility to experimental thrombosis in vivo . We used mice genetically deficient in superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1, an antioxidant enzyme that dismutates superoxide to hydrogen peroxide), to test the hypothesis that lack of SOD1 enhances susceptibility to thrombosis. Susceptibility to carotid artery thrombosis in a photochemical injury model demonstrated that Sod1-/- mice formed stable occlusions significantly faster than Sod1+/+ mice (P<0.05). In an inferior vena cava (IVC) stasis model Sod1- /- mice developed significantly larger thrombi 48 hours after IVC ligation (P<0.05 vs. Sod1+/+ mice). After activation with thrombin (0.5 U/ml) or convulxin (200 ng/ml), no differences in surface expression of P-selectin or binding of fibrinogen were observed between platelets from Sod1-/- and Sod1+/+ mice. The expression of TF mRNA in lung measured by real time qPCR showed similar levels in Sod1-/- and Sod1 +/+ mice. However, the activation of exogenous protein C by thrombin in lung homogenates was decreased in Sod1 -/- mice (P<0.05 vs. Sod1 +/+ mice). Further, in vivo generation of activated protein C in response to thrombin (40 U/Kg) infusion was significantly lower in Sod1-/- mice (P<0.05 vs. Sod1+/+ mice). No differences in mRNA levels for thrombomodulin or endothelial protein C receptor were detected in Sod1 -/- mice vs. Sod1 +/+ mice, suggesting that altered generation of activated protein C in Sod1-/- mice may be related to a direct oxidative effect on thrombomodulin. In accordance, thrombomodulin treated with xanthine/hypoxanthine showed 40% loss of ability to activate protein C that was overcome by addition of SOD and catalase (P<0.05). We conclude that endogenous SOD1 in mice protects from impaired generation of activated protein C and accelerated thrombosis.


Rheumatology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (10) ◽  
pp. 1850-1860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meilang Xue ◽  
Suat Dervish ◽  
Kelly J McKelvey ◽  
Lyn March ◽  
Fang Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives To investigate whether activated protein C (APC), a physiological anticoagulant can inhibit the inflammatory/invasive properties of immune cells and rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts (RASFs) in vitro and prevent inflammatory arthritis in murine antigen-induced arthritis (AIA) and CIA models. Methods RASFs isolated from synovial tissues of patients with RA, human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and mouse thymus cells were treated with APC or TNF-α/IL-17 and the following assays were performed: RASF proliferation and invasion by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and cell invasion assays, respectively; cytokines and signalling molecules using ELISA or western blot; Th1 and Th17 phenotypes in human PBMCs or mouse thymus cells by flow cytometry. The in vivo effect of APC was evaluated in AIA and CIA models. Results In vitro, APC inhibited IL-1β, IL-17 and TNF-α production, IL-17-stimulated cell proliferation and invasion and p21 and nuclear factor κB activation in RASFs. In mouse thymus cells and human PBMCs, APC suppressed Th1 and Th17 phenotypes. In vivo, APC inhibited pannus formation, cartilage destruction and arthritis incidence/severity in both CIA and AIA models. In CIA, serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17, TNF-α and soluble endothelial protein C receptor were significantly reduced by APC treatment. Blocking endothelial protein C receptor, the specific receptor for APC, abolished the early or preventative effect of APC in AIA. Conclusion APC prevents the onset and development of arthritis in CIA and AIA models via suppressing inflammation, Th1/Th17 phenotypes and RASF invasion, which is likely mediated via endothelial protein C receptor.


2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (04) ◽  
pp. 743-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Horn ◽  
Siegfried Lang ◽  
Kenji Fukudome ◽  
Adriane Nahrup ◽  
Ursula Hoffmann ◽  
...  

SummaryProstacyclin (PGI2) has beneficial cytoprotective properties, is a potent inhibitor of platelet aggregation and has been reported to improve microcirculatory blood flow during sepsis. The formation of PGI2 in response to proinflammatory cytokines is catalysed by the inducible cyclooxygenase (COX) isoform COX-2. Recombinant human activated protein C (rhAPC, drotrecogin alfa (activated)) was shown to have multiple biological activities in vitro and to promote resolution of organ dysfunction in septic patients. Whether rhAPC exerts its beneficial effects by modulating prostanoid generation is unknown up to now. It was therefore the aim of the study to examine the in vitro effect of rhAPC on COX-2-mRNA-expression and PGI2 release from human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). We found that rhAPC, at supra-therapeutical concentrations (500ng/ml-20μg/ ml), upregulated the amount of COX-2-mRNA in HUVEC at t=3–9h and caused a time- and dose-dependent release of 6-keto PGF1α, the stable hydrolysis product of prostacyclin. RhAPC further increased the stimulating effect of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and thrombin on COX-2-mRNA-levels. Transcript levels of cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and prostagland-in I2 synthase, however, were unaffected by the stimulation with rhAPC or thrombin. The upregulatory effect on COX2-mRNA levels was specific for rhAPC since the zymogen protein C in equimolar concentrations had no effect on COX-2-mRNA-levels or 6keto PGF1α-release. Western Blot analysis revealed an increase of COX-2-protein content in HUVEC after treatment with rhAPC. As shown by experiments using monoclonal antibodies against the thrombin receptor PAR-1 (mAb=ATAP2) and against the endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR; mAb=RCR-252), the effect of rhAPC on COX-2-mRNA up-regulation was mediated by binding to the EPCR-receptor and signaling via PAR-1. These results demonstrate that induction of COX-2-expression is an important response of HUVEC to stimulation with rhAPC and may represent a new molecular mechanism, by which rhAPC promotes upregulation of prostanoid production in human endothelium.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 1762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Ren ◽  
Hemant Giri ◽  
Ji Li ◽  
Alireza R. Rezaie

Activated protein C (APC) is a vitamin-K dependent plasma serine protease, which functions as a natural anticoagulant to downregulate thrombin generation in the clotting cascade. APC also modulates cellular homeostasis by exhibiting potent cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory signaling activities. The beneficial cytoprotective effects of APC have been extensively studied and confirmed in a number of preclinical disease and injury models including sepsis, type-1 diabetes and various ischemia/reperfusion diseases. It is now well-known that APC modulates downstream cell signaling networks and transcriptome profiles when it binds to the endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) to activate protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1) on various cell types. However, despite much progress, details of the downstream signaling mechanism of APC and its crosstalk with other signaling networks are far from being fully understood. In this review, we focus on the cardioprotective properties of APC in ischemic heart disease and heart failure with a special emphasis on recent discoveries related to the modulatory effect of APC on AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), PI3K/AKT, and mTORC1 signaling pathways. The cytoprotective properties of APC might provide a novel strategy for future therapies in cardiac diseases.


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