scholarly journals Secoisolariciresinol Diglucoside Exerts Anti-Inflammatory and Antiapoptotic Effects through Inhibiting the Akt/IκB/NF-κB Pathway on Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Shaoyang Zhang ◽  
Meili Cheng ◽  
Zhen Wang ◽  
Yuzhi Liu ◽  
Yuhua Ren ◽  
...  

Inflammation is a key regulator in the progression of atherosclerosis (AS) which extremely affects people’s health. Secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG), a plant lignan, is relevant to angiogenesis and cardioprotection against ischemia-reperfusion injury and improves vascular disorders. However, the effect of SDG on cardiovascular disorder is not clear. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of SDG on lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) stimulated Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) and elucidate the underlying mechanism. The LPS-stimulated HUVEC cellular model was established. The cell viability, the cell tube formation activity, the nitric oxide (NO) release, the levels of inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), the activation of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) pathway, and the expression of protein kinase B (Akt) were determined using Cell Counting Kit-8, cell tube-formation assay, western blotting, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our results revealed that SDG reduces the angiogenic capacity of HUVECs and inhibited LPS-mediated HUVEC injury and apoptosis. In addition, SDG increased NO release and decreased the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in LPS-treated HUVECs. Meanwhile, SDG inhibited the NF-κB pathway and downregulated Akt expression in LPS-induced HUVECs. Our results indicated that SDG relieves LPS-mediated HUVEC injury by inhibiting the NF-κB pathway which is partly dependent on the disruption of Akt activation. Therefore, SDG exerts its cytoprotective effects in the context of LPS-treated HUVECs via regulation of the Akt/IκB/NF-κB pathway and may be a potential treatment drug for cardiovascular disease.

Pharmacology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 103 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 61-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Wei ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Bin Zhang ◽  
Lin Ma

Background/Aims: To investigate the effect of propranolol on cobalt chloride (CoCl2)-induced hypoxic proliferation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Methods: CoCl2 was administrated to HUVECs to mimic hypoxic proliferation in infantile hemangioma. The proliferation of HUVECs was detected by Cell Counting Kit-8. Effects of propranolol on apoptosis and expressions of cell cycle-related genes, CDK4 and cyclin D1, were detected by flow cytometry and RT-PCR respectively. The release of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Propranolol significantly inhibited the CoCl2-induced hypoxic proliferation of HUVECs in a dose-dependent manner, and also induced apoptosis and suppressed the expression of CDK4 and cyclin D1. Propranolol also decreased the release of VEGF and LDH in the supernatant. Conclusions: Propranolol could inhibit CoCl2-induced hypoxic proliferation of HUVECs through inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.


2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Sun ◽  
Dongcao Lv ◽  
Qiulian Zhou ◽  
Yihua Bei ◽  
Junjie Xiao

MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miRs), endogenous small non-coding RNA, have been shown to act as essential regulators in angiogenesis which plays important roles in improving blood flow and cardiac function following myocardial infarction. The current study investigated the potential of miR-4260 in endothelial cell function and angiogenesis using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Our data demonstrated that overexpression of miR-4260 was associated with increased proliferation and migration of HUVEC using EdU incorporation assay (17.25%±1.31 vs 25.78%±1.24 in nc-mimics vs miR-4260 mimics, respectively) and wound healing assay, respectively. While downregulation of miR-4260 inhibited the proliferation (17.90%±1.37 vs 10.66%±1.41 in nc-inhibitor vs miR-4260 inhibitor, respectively) and migration of HUVEC. Furthermore, we found that miR-4260 mimics increased (129.75±3.68 vs 147±3.13 in nc-mimics vs miR-4260 mimics, respectively), while miR-4260 inhibitor decreased the tube formation of HUVECs in vitro (123.25±2.17 vs 92±4.45 in nc-inhibitor vs miR-4260 inhibitor expression, respectively). Our data indicate that miR-4260 contributes to the proliferation, migration and tube formation of endothelial cells, and might be essential regulators for angiogenesis. Further study is needed to investigate the underlying mechanism that mediates the role of miR-4260 in angiogenesis by identifying its putative downstream target genes.


Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 1469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chung-Sheng Shi ◽  
Kuan-Lin Kuo ◽  
Mei-Sin Chen ◽  
Po-Ming Chow ◽  
Shing-Hwa Liu ◽  
...  

Cancer cells rely on aberrant transcription for growth and survival. Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) play critical roles in regulating gene transcription by modulating the activity of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII). THZ1, a selective covalent inhibitor of CDK7, has antitumor effects in several human cancers. In this study, we investigated the role and therapeutic potential of CDK7 in regulating the angiogenic activity of endothelial cells and human renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Our results revealed that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a critical activator of angiogenesis, upregulated the expression of CDK7 and RNAPII, and the phosphorylation of RNAPII at serine 5 and 7 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), indicating the transcriptional activity of CDK7 may be involved in VEGF-activated angiogenic activity of endothelium. Furthermore, through suppressing CDK7 activity, THZ1 suppressed VEGF-activated proliferation and migration, as well as enhanced apoptosis of HUVECs. Moreover, THZ1 inhibited VEGF-activated capillary tube formation and CDK7 knockdown consistently diminished tube formation in HUVECs. Additionally, THZ1 reduced VEGF expression in human RCC cells (786-O and Caki-2), and THZ1 treatment inhibited tumor growth, vascularity, and angiogenic marker (CD31) expression in RCC xenografts. Our results demonstrated that CDK7-mediated transcription was involved in the angiogenic activity of endothelium and human RCC. THZ1 suppressed VEGF-mediated VEGFR2 downstream activation of angiogenesis, providing a new perspective for antitumor therapy in RCC patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Liu ◽  
Yanghui Ou ◽  
Yumeng Yang ◽  
Xuemei Zhang ◽  
Liqi Huang ◽  
...  

Punicalagin, a major ellagitannin isolated from pomegranate, is proved to have various pharmacological activities with an undefined therapy mechanism. The objective of this research was to demonstrate the effect of punicalagin on anti-inflammatory and angiogenic activation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and their potential mechanisms. Endothelial-leukocyte adhesion assay was applied to evaluate primary cultures of HUVECs activation following tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) treatment. The endothelial cell proliferation, migration, permeability and tube formation were assessed by EdU assay, wound migration assay, trans-endothelial electrical resistances (TEER) assay, and capillary-like tube formation assay, respectively. In addition, the expression of relevant proteins was assessed using Western blot analysis. We confirmed that punicalagin could reduce the adhesion of human monocyte cells to HUVECs in vitro and in vivo. Further, punicalagin decreased the expression of mRNA and proteins of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in HUVECs. Moreover, punicalagin inhibited permeability, proliferation, migration, and tube formation in VEGF-induced HUVECs, suppressed IKK-mediated activation of NF-κB signaling in TNF-α-induced endothelial cells, and inhibited vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) activation and downstream p-PAK1. Our findings indicated that punicalagin might have a protective effect on HUVECs activation, which suggested that punicalagin functions through an endothelial mediated mechanism for treating various disorders such as, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular disease.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen Tang ◽  
Tom H Huang ◽  
Jianmei Li ◽  
Sarah Tandy ◽  
Gemma Figtree

Introduction/Aims: FXYD1 has been shown to be a master regulator of the sodium potassium pump activity in the caveolae of heart tissue, protecting the pump from glutathionylation and oxidative inhibition. However, very little is known about its expression and function in the endothelium, particularly in regard to its potential interaction with other caveolae proteins. Given the molecular mechanism of eNOS uncoupling is via glutathionylation, we examined whether FXYD1 was expressed in endothelial cells, and whether it had a functional partnership with eNOS. Methods: Co-immunoprecipitation was used to study the interaction of FXYD1 and eNOS. GSH antibody was used for immunodetection of eNOS glutathionylation. Silencing of FXYD1 using siRNA followed by DAF staining or spin trap were used to study the effects of FXYD1 on eNOS function. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was also employed to quantify eNOS glutathionylation level in human erythrocyte samples post exposure to angiotensin II (0 to 500 nM) ex vivo. Results: FXYD1 co-immunoprecipitated with eNOS in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Silencing of FXYD1 resulted in significantly increased eNOS glutathionylation, associated with significantly reduced NO bioavailability under baseline and acetylcholine stimulated conditions (1μM, 20mins). Furthermore, a dose-dependent increase in eNOS glutathionylation level was also observed in human erythrocyte exposed to angiotensin II. Discussion: Our findings demonstrated a novel functional partnership of FXYD1 with eNOS, protecting this vital enzyme from glutathionylation-mediated uncoupling. This has important implications for our understanding of ROS-signalling in the vasculature. Furthermore, FXYD1 expression/eNOS glutathionylation may serve as important biomarkers for oxidative stress.


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