Fluid shear stress induces the phosphorylation of small heat shock proteins in vascular endothelial cells

1996 ◽  
Vol 271 (3) ◽  
pp. C994-C1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Li ◽  
R. S. Piotrowicz ◽  
E. G. Levin ◽  
Y. J. Shyy ◽  
S. Chien

The small molecular mass heat shock protein of 27 kDa (HSP27) has been shown to influence actin filament dynamics and endothelial cell behavior in ways similar to those observed during laminar flow. We have employed human umbilical vein endothelial cells to determine whether fluid shear stress affects HSP27 expression or phosphorylation. After a shear stress of 16 dyn/cm2, HSP27 became more highly phosphorylated, with maximum increase in phosphorylation levels (3-fold) attained by 30 min and sustained for at least 20 h. HSP27 antigen levels did not change; however, HSP27 mRNA levels decreased by 20% after 16 h. In bovine aortic endothelial cells stably transfected with the wild-type human HSP27 gene, shear stress induced the phosphorylation of both the exogenous human HSP27 and the endogenous bovine HSP25. The product of a transfected mutant HSP27 gene in which the putative phosphorylation sites Ser-15, Ser-78, and Ser-82 had been replaced with Gly was not phosphorylated. Thus the modulation of HSP27 and its activity by shear stress is mediated through a posttranslational mechanism and differs from the shear stress induction of immediate early genes at the level of transcription.

Author(s):  
Hojin Kang ◽  
Kayla J. Bayless ◽  
Roland Kaunas

We have previously developed a cell culture model to study the effects of angiogenic factors, such as sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), on the invasion of endothelial cells into the underlying extracellular matrix. In addition to biochemical stimuli, vascular endothelial cells are subjected to fluid shear stress due to blood flow. The present study is aimed at determining the effects of fluid shear stress on endothelial cell invasion into collagen gels. A device was constructed to apply well-defined fluid shear stresses to confluent human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) seeded on collagen gels. Fluid shear stress induced significant increases in cell invasion with a maximal induction at ∼5 dyn/cm2. These results provide evidence that fluid shear stress is a significant stimulus for endothelial cell invasion and may play a role in regulating angiogenesis.


eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Baeyens ◽  
Stefania Nicoli ◽  
Brian G Coon ◽  
Tyler D Ross ◽  
Koen Van den Dries ◽  
...  

Vascular remodeling under conditions of growth or exercise, or during recovery from arterial restriction or blockage is essential for health, but mechanisms are poorly understood. It has been proposed that endothelial cells have a preferred level of fluid shear stress, or ‘set point’, that determines remodeling. We show that human umbilical vein endothelial cells respond optimally within a range of fluid shear stress that approximate physiological shear. Lymphatic endothelial cells, which experience much lower flow in vivo, show similar effects but at lower value of shear stress. VEGFR3 levels, a component of a junctional mechanosensory complex, mediate these differences. Experiments in mice and zebrafish demonstrate that changing levels of VEGFR3/Flt4 modulates aortic lumen diameter consistent with flow-dependent remodeling. These data provide direct evidence for a fluid shear stress set point, identify a mechanism for varying the set point, and demonstrate its relevance to vessel remodeling in vivo.


1995 ◽  
Vol 269 (2) ◽  
pp. H550-H555 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Ranjan ◽  
Z. Xiao ◽  
S. L. Diamond

The role of chronic fluid shear stress on endothelial constitutive nitric oxide synthase (cNOS) levels may have an important role in vessel diameter control. We subjected primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) or bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC, passages 2-14) to steady laminar shear stress. In both cell types, the intracellular level of cNOS was elevated within 3 h of flow exposure at 25 dyn/cm2 and remained elevated at 6 and 12 h of flow exposure, compared with stationary controls, as indicated by digital immunofluorescence microscopy. Shear stress exposure for 6 h caused a 2.2 +/- 0.3- and 2.8 +/- 0.3-fold elevation of cNOS protein levels in BAEC (n = 3, P < 0.01) and HUVEC (n = 3, P < 0.01), respectively, in the presence or absence of 1 microM dexamethasone. Dexamethasone suppresses induction of the inducible NOS gene, indicating that cNOS was elevated by fluid shear stress. Flow exposure at 4 dyn/cm2 caused no enhancement of cNOS levels in either cell type. The flow induction of the cNOS protein levels was not blocked by preincubation of BAEC with 100-400 microM of NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, indicating that flow-induced NO (or guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate) was not involved in the elevation of cNOS levels. Protein kinase C inhibitor H-7 (10 microM) had no effect on induction of NOS protein in BAEC exposed to 25 dyn/cm2. The cNOS mRNA levels were found to be elevated by two- to threefold in BAEC after 6 or 12 h of flow exposure at either 4 or 25 dyn/cm2, and this induction of NOS mRNA occurred in the presence of dexamethasone. The elevation of cNOS levels by chronic flow exposure may provide a mechanism for chronic regulation of vessel diameter by endothelial response to prevailing blood flow.


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
LIANG-LIANG SUN ◽  
LE ZHANG ◽  
XIANG-LAN MENG ◽  
FENG ZHANG ◽  
YUN ZHAO ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 36-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Zhang ◽  
Le Zhang ◽  
Liang-liang Sun ◽  
Xiang-lan Meng ◽  
Yun Zhao ◽  
...  

2001 ◽  
Vol 280 (5) ◽  
pp. H2214-H2221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Risa Korenaga ◽  
Kimiko Yamamoto ◽  
Norihiko Ohura ◽  
Takaaki Sokabe ◽  
Akira Kamiya ◽  
...  

Endothelial purinoceptors play an important role in vascular responses to extracellular adenine nucleotides and hemodynamic forces. Here we report that P2X4 purinoceptor expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells is transcriptionally downregulated by fluid shear stress. When human umbilical vein endothelial cells were subjected to a laminar shear stress of 15 dyn/cm2, P2X4 mRNA levels began to decrease within 1 h and further decreased with time, reaching 60% at 24 h. Functional analysis of the 1.9-kb P2X4 5′-promoter indicated that a 131-bp segment (−112 to +19 bp relative to the transcription start site) containing a consensus binding site for the Sp1 transcription factor was critical for the shear stress responsiveness. Mutations of the Sp1 site decreased the basal level of transcription and abolished the response of the P2X4 promoter to shear stress. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed a marked decrease in binding of Sp1 to the Sp1 consensus element in shear-stressed cells, suggesting that Sp1 mediates the shear stress-induced downregulation of P2X4 gene transcription.


2006 ◽  
Vol 290 (1) ◽  
pp. H458-H452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirella Gouverneur ◽  
Jos A. E. Spaan ◽  
Hans Pannekoek ◽  
Ruud D. Fontijn ◽  
Hans Vink

Vascular endothelial cells are shielded from direct exposure to flowing blood by the endothelial glycocalyx, a highly hydrated mesh of glycoproteins, sulfated proteoglycans, and associated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Recent data indicate that the incorporation of the unsulfated GAG hyaluronan into the endothelial glycocalyx is essential to maintain its permeability barrier properties, and we hypothesized that fluid shear stress is an important stimulus for endothelial hyaluronan synthesis. To evaluate the effect of shear stress on glycocalyx synthesis and the shedding of its GAGs into the supernatant, cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (i.e., the stable cell line EC-RF24) were exposed to 10 dyn/cm2 nonpulsatile shear stress for 24 h, and the incorporation of [3H]glucosamine and Na2[35S]O4 into GAGs was determined. Furthermore, the amount of hyaluronan in the glycocalyx and in the supernatant was determined by ELISA. Shear stress did not affect the incorporation of 35S but significantly increased the amount of glucosamine-containing GAGs incorporated in the endothelial glycocalyx [168 (SD 17)% of static levels, P < 0.01] and shedded into the supernatant [231 (SD 41)% of static levels, P < 0.01]. Correspondingly with this finding, shear stress increased the amount of hyaluronan in the glycocalyx [from 26 (SD 24) × 10−4 to 46 (SD 29) × 10−4 ng/cell, static vs. shear stress, P < 0.05] and in the supernatant [from 28 (SD 11) × 10−4 to 55 (SD 16) × 10−4 ng·cell−1·h−1, static vs. shear stress, P < 0.05]. The increase in the amount of hyaluronan incorporated in the glycocalyx was confirmed by a threefold higher level of hyaluronan binding protein within the glycocalyx of shear stress-stimulated endothelial cells. In conclusion, fluid shear stress stimulates incorporation of hyaluronan in the glycocalyx, which may contribute to its vasculoprotective effects against proinflammatory and pro-atherosclerotic stimuli.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document