Proteomics analysis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells treated with resveratrol

Quantitative Proteomics Reveals Transforming Growth Factor β Receptor Targeted by Resveratrol and Hesperetin Coformulation in Endothelial Cells

The endothelium is the frontline target of multiple metabolic stressors and pharmacological agents. As a consequence, endothelial cells (ECs) display highly dynamic and diverse proteome profiles. We describe here the culture of human aortic ECs from healthy and type 2 diabetic donors, the treatment with a small molecular coformulation of trans-resveratrol and hesperetin (tRES+HESP), followed by proteomic analysis of whole-cell lysate. A number of 3666 proteins were presented in all of the samples and thus further analyzed. We found that 179 proteins had a significant difference between diabetic ECs vs. healthy ECs, while 81 proteins had a significant change upon the treatment of tRES+HESP in diabetic ECs. Among them, 16 proteins showed a difference between diabetic ECs and healthy ECs and the difference was reversed by the tRES+HESP treatment. Follow-up functional assays identified activin A receptor-like type 1 and transforming growth factor β receptor 2 as the most pronounced targets suppressed by tRES+HESP in protecting angiogenesis in vitro. Our study has revealed the global differences in proteins and biological pathways in ECs from diabetic donors, which are potentially reversible by the tRES+HESP formula. Furthermore, we have identified the TGFβ receptor as a responding mechanism in ECs treated with this formula, shedding light on future studies for deeper molecular characterization.

Inhibition of A20 expression in tumor microenvironment exerts anti-tumor effect through inducing myeloid-derived suppressor cells apoptosis

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are known to play important roles in the development of immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. A20 is a zinc-finger protein which could negatively regulate apoptosis in several cell types. However, the role of A20 in tumor microenvironment remains largely unknown. In this study, we found that A20 was over-expressed in MDSCs. The treatment of tumor-bearing mice with small interfering RNA targeting A20 (si-A20) inhibited the growth of tumors. The infiltration of MDSCs was dramatically reduced after si-A20 treatment, as compared to control groups, whereas the numbers of dendritic cells and macrophages were not affected. Also, injection of si-A20 improved T cell mediated tumor-specific immune response. Depletion of MDSCs with anti-Gr1 antibody showed similar antitumor effect and improved T cell response. TNF-α was highly expressed after si-A20 injection. Furthermore, si-A20 induced apoptosis of MDSCs in the presence of TNF-α both in vivo and in vitro. Cleaved Caspase-3 and Caspase-8 were elevated with the activation of JNK pathway after the induction of MDSC apoptosis by si-A20. Thus, our findings suggested that knockdown of A20 in tumor site inhibited tumor growth at least through inducing the apoptosis of MDSCs. A20 might be a potential target in anticancer therapy.

Comparative proteomic analysis of endothelial cells progenitor cells derived from cord blood- and peripheral blood for cell therapy

Vasculopathy due to ischemia in damaged tissues is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. To treat these conditions, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) from various sources, such as umbilical cord or peripheral blood, have been the focus of the regenerative medicine field due to their proliferative and vasculogenic activities. However, the fundamental, molecular-level differences between EPCs obtained from different cellular sources have rarely been studied. In this study, we established endothelial progenitor cells derived from cord blood- and peripheral blood (CB- and PB-EPCs) and investigated their fundamental differences at the cellular and molecular levels through a combination of stem cell biology techniques and proteomic analysis. Our results suggest that specifically up-regulated factors such as STMIN 1, CFL 1, PARK 7, NME 1, GLO 1, HSP 27 and PRDX 2 in CB-EPCs as key elements that could be functionally active in ischemic regions. We also discussed functional behaviors important for inducing and maintaining long-lasting blood vessels under ischemic conditions. As a result, CB-EPCs retained a higher anti-oxidant and migration ability than PB-EPCs in vitro. Furthermore, CB-EPCs retained a higher therapeutic efficacy than PB-EPCs in a hindlimb ischemic disease model. The up-regulated expression pattern of STMIN 1, CFL 1, PARK 7, NME 1, GLO 1, HSP 27 and PRDX 2 was confirmed under several conditions in vitro and in vivo, indicating that the up-regulation of these molecules in CB-EPCs may be critical to the mechanism of healing in ischemic conditions and that CB-EPCs may be more appropriate for inducing neo-vessels. Thus, these results may aid in predetermining which cell sources will be of value for cell-based therapies of pathological conditions and identify several candidate molecules that may be involved in the therapeutic mechanism for ischemia.