scholarly journals Zinc Ameliorates the Osteogenic Effects of High Glucose in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3083
Author(s):  
Laura A. Henze ◽  
Misael Estepa ◽  
Burkert Pieske ◽  
Florian Lang ◽  
Kai-Uwe Eckardt ◽  
...  

In diabetic patients, medial vascular calcification is common and associated with increased cardiovascular mortality. Excessive glucose concentrations can activate the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B-cells (NF-kB) and trigger pro-calcific effects in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), which may actively augment vascular calcification. Zinc is able to mitigate phosphate-induced VSMC calcification. Reduced serum zinc levels have been reported in diabetes mellitus. Therefore, in this study the effects of zinc supplementation were investigated in primary human aortic VSMCs exposed to excessive glucose concentrations. Zinc treatment was found to abrogate the stimulating effects of high glucose on VSMC calcification. Furthermore, zinc was found to blunt the increased expression of osteogenic and chondrogenic markers in high glucose-treated VSMCs. High glucose exposure was shown to activate NF-kB in VSMCs, an effect that was blunted by additional zinc treatment. Zinc was further found to increase the expression of TNFα-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3) in high glucose-treated VSMCs. The silencing of TNFAIP3 was shown to abolish the protective effects of zinc on high glucose-induced NF-kB-dependent transcriptional activation, osteogenic marker expression, and the calcification of VSMCs. Silencing of the zinc-sensing receptor G protein-coupled receptor 39 (GPR39) was shown to abolish zinc-induced TNFAIP3 expression and the effects of zinc on high glucose-induced osteogenic marker expression. These observations indicate that zinc may be a protective factor during vascular calcification in hyperglycemic conditions.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 7207
Author(s):  
Florian Poetsch ◽  
Laura A. Henze ◽  
Misael Estepa ◽  
Barbara Moser ◽  
Burkert Pieske ◽  
...  

In diabetes mellitus, hyperglycemia promotes the osteogenic transdifferentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) to enhance medial vascular calcification, a common complication strongly associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality. The mechanisms involved are, however, still poorly understood. Therefore, the present study explored the potential role of serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 (SGK1) during vascular calcification promoted by hyperglycemic conditions. Exposure to high-glucose conditions up-regulated the SGK1 expression in primary human aortic VSMCs. High glucose increased osteogenic marker expression and activity and, thus, promoted the osteogenic transdifferentiation of VSMCs, effects significantly suppressed by additional treatment with the SGK1 inhibitor EMD638683. Moreover, high glucose augmented the mineralization of VSMCs in the presence of calcification medium, effects again significantly reduced by SGK1 inhibition. Similarly, SGK1 knockdown blunted the high glucose-induced osteogenic transdifferentiation of VSMCs. The osteoinductive signaling promoted by high glucose required SGK1-dependent NF-κB activation. In addition, advanced glycation end products (AGEs) increased the SGK1 expression in VSMCs, and SGK1 inhibition was able to interfere with AGEs-induced osteogenic signaling. In conclusion, SGK1 is up-regulated and mediates, at least partly, the osteogenic transdifferentiation and calcification of VSMCs during hyperglycemic conditions. Thus, SGK1 inhibition may reduce the development of vascular calcification promoted by hyperglycemia in diabetes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Qing Ni ◽  
Shuang Li ◽  
Xiao Lin ◽  
Yan-Jiao Wang ◽  
Jie-Yu He ◽  
...  

AbstractVascular calcification/aging is a crucial feature of diabetic macro vasculopathy, resulting in serious cardiovascular diseases. The calcification/senescence of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) induced by hyperglycemia can cause diabetic vascular calcification/aging. However, the mechanism of VSMCs calcification/senescence involved in diabetic vascular calcification/aging remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine how the high glucose (HG) information in circulating blood is transmitted from vascular endothelial cells (ECs) to VSMCs, which are not contacted with blood directly. Exosomes have attracted much attention for their vital roles in regulating cell-to-cell communication. In this study, we found that milk fat globule epidermal growth factor 8 (MFGE8) was enriched in high glucose induced human umbilical vein endothelial cell exosomes (HG-HUVEC-Exo) and regulate VSMCs calcification/senescence, characterized by up-regulated expressions of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), as well as the increased mineralized nodules and senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) positive cells. Upstream mechanism studies showed that sirtuin1 (SIRT1) was involved in VSMCs calcification/senescence by affecting the expression of MFGE8. We also found that inflammatory response mediated by IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 was closely associated with MFGE8 and played a key role in regulating HG-HUVEC-Exo-induced VSMCs calcification/senescence. These findings provide a new insight into the mechanism of exosomal MFGE8 as a potential preventive and therapeutic target for the intervention of diabetic vascular calcification/aging.


2021 ◽  
Vol 296 ◽  
pp. 100483
Author(s):  
Yingchun Han ◽  
Jichao Zhang ◽  
Shan Huang ◽  
Naixuan Cheng ◽  
Congcong Zhang ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqiang Qi ◽  
Yujing Zhang ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Dongxia Hou ◽  
Yang Xiang

We assessed the role of PGC-1α (PPARγ coactivator-1 alpha) in glucose-induced proliferation, migration, and inflammatory gene expression of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). We carried out phagocytosis studies to assess the role of PGC-1α in transdifferentiation of VSMCs by flow cytometry. We found that high glucose stimulated proliferation, migration and inflammatory gene expression of VSMCs, but overexpression of PGC-1α attenuated the effects of glucose. In addition, overexpression of PGC-1α decreased mRNA and protein level of VSMCs-related genes, and induced macrophage-related gene expression, as well as phagocytosis of VSMCs. Therefore, PGC-1α inhibited glucose-induced proliferation, migration and inflammatory gene expression of VSMCs, which are key features in the pathology of atherosclerosis. More importantly, PGC-1α transdifferentiated VSMCs to a macrophage-like state. Such transdifferentiation possibly increased the portion of VSMCs-derived foam cells in the plaque and favored plaque stability.


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