Proteome-scale profiling reveals MAFF and MAFG as two novel key transcription factors involved in palmitic acid-induced umbilical vein endothelial cell apoptosis

Background Vascular endothelial cell apoptosis is the leading risk factor of atherosclerosis (AS). The purpose of our study was to use a new generation high-throughput transcription factor (TF) detection method to identify novel key TFs in vascular endothelial cell apoptosis induced by palmitic acid (PA). Methods Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with 0, 300, or 500 µM PA. Candidate TFs in the three groups were identified by differential expression, pathway enrichment, Western Blot (WB), and RT-qPCR analyses. Apoptosis was assessed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) using FITC-annexin V and propidium iodide staining. Results We established a HUVEC apoptosis model to simulate the process of atherosclerosis onset and identified 51 significant TFs. of the 51 TFs, v-maf musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma oncogene family protein G (MAFG) and v-maf musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma oncogene family protein F (MAFF), were matched to known AS signalling pathways and were validated by WB and RT-qPCR analyses in our study. Overexpression of MAFG or MAFF in HUVECs significantly inhibited PA-induced early apoptosis. Conclusions We identified MAFF and MAFG as novel key TFs in vascular endothelial cell apoptosis.