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Larionov A, Hammer CM, Fiedler K, Filgueira L. Dynamics of Endothelial Cell Diversity and Plasticity in Health and Disease. Cells 2024; 13:1276. [PMID: 39120307 PMCID: PMC11312403 DOI: 10.3390/cells13151276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2024] [Revised: 07/19/2024] [Accepted: 07/19/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Endothelial cells (ECs) are vital structural units of the cardiovascular system possessing two principal distinctive properties: heterogeneity and plasticity. Endothelial heterogeneity is defined by differences in tissue-specific endothelial phenotypes and their high predisposition to modification along the length of the vascular bed. This aspect of heterogeneity is closely associated with plasticity, the ability of ECs to adapt to environmental cues through the mobilization of genetic, molecular, and structural alterations. The specific endothelial cytoarchitectonics facilitate a quick structural cell reorganization and, furthermore, easy adaptation to the extrinsic and intrinsic environmental stimuli, known as the epigenetic landscape. ECs, as universally distributed and ubiquitous cells of the human body, play a role that extends far beyond their structural function in the cardiovascular system. They play a crucial role in terms of barrier function, cell-to-cell communication, and a myriad of physiological and pathologic processes. These include development, ontogenesis, disease initiation, and progression, as well as growth, regeneration, and repair. Despite substantial progress in the understanding of endothelial cell biology, the role of ECs in healthy conditions and pathologies remains a fascinating area of exploration. This review aims to summarize knowledge and concepts in endothelial biology. It focuses on the development and functional characteristics of endothelial cells in health and pathological conditions, with a particular emphasis on endothelial phenotypic and functional heterogeneity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexey Larionov
- Faculty of Science and Medicine, Anatomy, University of Fribourg, Route Albert-Gockel 1, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland; (C.M.H.); (L.F.)
| | - Christian Manfred Hammer
- Faculty of Science and Medicine, Anatomy, University of Fribourg, Route Albert-Gockel 1, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland; (C.M.H.); (L.F.)
| | - Klaus Fiedler
- Independent Researcher, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland;
| | - Luis Filgueira
- Faculty of Science and Medicine, Anatomy, University of Fribourg, Route Albert-Gockel 1, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland; (C.M.H.); (L.F.)
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Akhter MZ, Yazbeck P, Tauseef M, Anwar M, Hossen F, Datta S, Vellingiri V, Chandra Joshi J, Toth PT, Srivastava N, Lenzini S, Zhou G, Lee J, Jain MK, Shin JW, Mehta D. FAK regulates tension transmission to the nucleus and endothelial transcriptome independent of kinase activity. Cell Rep 2024; 43:114297. [PMID: 38824643 PMCID: PMC11262709 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/04/2024] Open
Abstract
The mechanical environment generated through the adhesive interaction of endothelial cells (ECs) with the matrix controls nuclear tension, preventing aberrant gene synthesis and the transition from restrictive to leaky endothelium, a hallmark of acute lung injury (ALI). However, the mechanisms controlling tension transmission to the nucleus and EC-restrictive fate remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that, in a kinase-independent manner, focal adhesion kinase (FAK) safeguards tension transmission to the nucleus to maintain EC-restrictive fate. In FAK-depleted ECs, robust activation of the RhoA-Rho-kinase pathway increased EC tension and phosphorylation of the nuclear envelope protein, emerin, activating DNMT3a. Activated DNMT3a methylates the KLF2 promoter, impairing the synthesis of KLF2 and its target S1PR1 to induce the leaky EC transcriptome. Repleting FAK (wild type or kinase dead) or inhibiting RhoA-emerin-DNMT3a activities in damaged lung ECs restored KLF2 transcription of the restrictive EC transcriptome. Thus, FAK sensing and control of tension transmission to the nucleus govern restrictive endothelium to maintain lung homeostasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Md Zahid Akhter
- Department of Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Pascal Yazbeck
- Department of Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Mohammad Tauseef
- Department of Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Mumtaz Anwar
- Department of Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Faruk Hossen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Sayanti Datta
- Department of Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Vigneshwaran Vellingiri
- Department of Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jagdish Chandra Joshi
- Department of Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Peter T Toth
- Department of Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, Chicago, IL, USA; Research Resources Center, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Nityanand Srivastava
- Department of Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Stephen Lenzini
- Department of Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Guangjin Zhou
- Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - James Lee
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Mukesh K Jain
- Division of Biology and Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Jae-Won Shin
- Department of Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Dolly Mehta
- Department of Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine and Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, Chicago, IL, USA.
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Jang J, Accornero F, Li D. Epigenetic determinants and non-myocardial signaling pathways contributing to heart growth and regeneration. Pharmacol Ther 2024; 257:108638. [PMID: 38548089 DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2024.108638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2024] [Revised: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect worldwide. Defective cardiac myogenesis is either a major presentation or associated with many types of congenital heart disease. Non-myocardial tissues, including endocardium and epicardium, function as a supporting hub for myocardial growth and maturation during heart development. Recent research findings suggest an emerging role of epigenetics in nonmyocytes supporting myocardial development. Understanding how growth signaling pathways in non-myocardial tissues are regulated by epigenetic factors will likely identify new disease mechanisms for congenital heart diseases and shed lights for novel therapeutic strategies for heart regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jihyun Jang
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA; Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43215, USA.
| | - Federica Accornero
- Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Deqiang Li
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA; Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43215, USA.
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Zhang X, Nie Y, Zhang R, Yu J, Ge J. Reduced DNMT1 levels induce cell apoptosis via upregulation of METTL3 in cardiac hypertrophy. Heliyon 2024; 10:e24572. [PMID: 38314261 PMCID: PMC10837504 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Revised: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/06/2024] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation is also involved in the development and progression of cardiac diseases. Although studies have shown that DNA methylation and RNA m6A methylation play an important role in the development of myocardial hypertrophy, whether DNA methylation and RNA m6A methylation have a coordinated role in the development of myocardial hypertrophy and influence each other is still unknown. Here, we found that DNMT1 expression was downregulated in TAC mice and Ang II-treated NRCMs. Moreover, DNMT1 overexpression inhibited Ang II-induced apoptosis of NRCMs. Furthermore, we found that the expression of METTL3 was up-regulated after inhibiting the expression of DNMT1 by a DNMT1 inhibitor or small interfering RNA. In addition, ectopic expression DNMT1 inhibited METTL3 expression in NRCMs. Furthermore, METTL3 expression was elevated in NRCMs treated with Ang II, and suppression of METTL3 inhibited cell apoptosis induced by Ang II in NRCMs.In addition, this study revealed that the DNMT1/METTL3 pathway affected Ang II-induced apoptosis in NRCMs. Finally, this study found that DNMT1, but not METTL3, might directly regulated the ANP and BNP expression. Collectively, our findings revealed the role of the DNMT1/METTL3 pathway in cardiac hypertrophy and provided a novel molecular mechanism describing the physiological and pathological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Rui Zhang
- Department of Cardiac surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei, 230001, China
| | - Jiquan Yu
- Department of Cardiac surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei, 230001, China
| | - Jianjun Ge
- Department of Cardiac surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei, 230001, China
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METTL14 is required for exercise-induced cardiac hypertrophy and protects against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. Nat Commun 2022; 13:6762. [PMID: 36351918 PMCID: PMC9646739 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34434-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
RNA m6A modification is the most widely distributed RNA methylation and is closely related to various pathophysiological processes. Although the benefit of regular exercise on the heart has been well recognized, the role of RNA m6A in exercise training and exercise-induced physiological cardiac hypertrophy remains largely unknown. Here, we show that endurance exercise training leads to reduced cardiac mRNA m6A levels. METTL14 is downregulated by exercise, both at the level of RNA m6A and at the protein level. In vivo, wild-type METTL14 overexpression, but not MTase inactive mutant METTL14, blocks exercise-induced physiological cardiac hypertrophy. Cardiac-specific METTL14 knockdown attenuates acute ischemia-reperfusion injury as well as cardiac dysfunction in ischemia-reperfusion remodeling. Mechanistically, silencing METTL14 suppresses Phlpp2 mRNA m6A modifications and activates Akt-S473, in turn regulating cardiomyocyte growth and apoptosis. Our data indicates that METTL14 plays an important role in maintaining cardiac homeostasis. METTL14 downregulation represents a promising therapeutic strategy to attenuate cardiac remodeling.
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Fan S, Hu Y. Role of m6A Methylation in the Occurrence and Development of Heart Failure. Front Cardiovasc Med 2022; 9:892113. [PMID: 35811741 PMCID: PMC9263194 DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.892113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation is one of the most common epigenetic modifications in RNA nucleotides. It is known that m6A methylation is involved in regulation, including gene expression, homeostasis, mRNA stability and other biological processes, affecting metabolism and a variety of biochemical regulation processes, and affecting the occurrence and development of a variety of diseases. Cardiovascular disease has high morbidity, disability rate and mortality in the world, of which heart failure is the final stage. Deeper understanding of the potential molecular mechanism of heart failure and exploring more effective treatment strategies will bring good news to the sick population. At present, m6A methylation is the latest research direction, which reveals some potential links between epigenetics and pathogenesis of heart failure. And m6A methylation will bring new directions and ideas for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart failure. The purpose of this paper is to review the physiological and pathological mechanisms of m6A methylation that may be involved in cardiac remodeling in heart failure, so as to explain the possible role of m6A methylation in the occurrence and development of heart failure. And we hope to help m6A methylation obtain more in-depth research in the occurrence and development of heart failure.
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Kumari R, Dutta R, Ranjan P, Suleiman ZG, Goswami SK, Li J, Pal HC, Verma SK. ALKBH5 Regulates SPHK1-Dependent Endothelial Cell Angiogenesis Following Ischemic Stress. Front Cardiovasc Med 2022; 8:817304. [PMID: 35127873 PMCID: PMC8811170 DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2021.817304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Endothelial cells dysfunction has been reported in many heart diseases including acute myocardial infarction, and atherosclerosis. The molecular mechanism for endothelial dysfunction in the heart is still not clearly understood. We aimed to study the role of m6A RNA demethylase alkB homolog 5 (ALKBH5) in ECs angiogenesis during ischemic injury. Methods and Results ECs were treated with ischemic insults (lipopolysaccharide and 1% hypoxia) to determine the role of ALKBH5 in ECs angiogenesis. siRNA mediated ALKBH5 gene silencing was used for examining the loss of function. In this study, we report that ALKBH5 levels are upregulated following ischemia and are associated with maintaining ischemia-induced ECs angiogenesis. To decipher the mechanism of action, we found that ALKBH5 is required to maintain eNOS phosphorylation and SPHK1 protein levels. ALKBH5 silencing alone or with ischemic stress significantly increased SPHK1 m6A mRNA methylation. In contrast, METTL3 (RNA methyltransferase) overexpression resulted in the reduced expression of SPHK1. Conclusion We reported that ALKBH5 helps in the maintenance of angiogenesis in endothelial cells following acute ischemic stress via reduced SPHK1 m6A methylation and downstream eNOS-AKT signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajesh Kumari
- Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Roshan Dutta
- Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Prabhat Ranjan
- Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Zainab Gbongbo Suleiman
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Sumanta Kumar Goswami
- Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Jing Li
- Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Harish Chandra Pal
- Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cellular Pathology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Suresh Kumar Verma
- Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
- *Correspondence: Suresh Kumar Verma
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Ciccone V, Genah S, Morbidelli L. Endothelium as a Source and Target of H 2S to Improve Its Trophism and Function. Antioxidants (Basel) 2021; 10:antiox10030486. [PMID: 33808872 PMCID: PMC8003673 DOI: 10.3390/antiox10030486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Revised: 03/13/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The vascular endothelium consists of a single layer of squamous endothelial cells (ECs) lining the inner surface of blood vessels. Nowadays, it is no longer considered as a simple barrier between the blood and vessel wall, but a central hub to control blood flow homeostasis and fulfill tissue metabolic demands by furnishing oxygen and nutrients. The endothelium regulates the proper functioning of vessels and microcirculation, in terms of tone control, blood fluidity, and fine tuning of inflammatory and redox reactions within the vessel wall and in surrounding tissues. This multiplicity of effects is due to the ability of ECs to produce, process, and release key modulators. Among these, gasotransmitters such as nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) are very active molecules constitutively produced by endotheliocytes for the maintenance and control of vascular physiological functions, while their impairment is responsible for endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular disorders such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, and impaired wound healing and vascularization due to diabetes, infections, and ischemia. Upregulation of H2S producing enzymes and administration of H2S donors can be considered as innovative therapeutic approaches to improve EC biology and function, to revert endothelial dysfunction or to prevent cardiovascular disease progression. This review will focus on the beneficial autocrine/paracrine properties of H2S on ECs and the state of the art on H2S potentiating drugs and tools.
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