Comprehensive and computational analysis of genes in human umbilical vein endothelial cells responsive to X-irradiation

Involvement of retinoic acid‑inducible gene‑I in radiation‑induced senescence of human umbilical vein endothelial cells

In 2012, the threshold radiation dose (0.5 Gy) for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases was revised, and this threshold dose may be exceeded during procedures involving radiation such as interventional radiology. Therefore, in addition to regulating radiation dose, it is necessary to develop strategies to prevent and mitigate the development of cardiovascular disease. Cellular senescence is irreversible arrest of cell proliferation. Although cellular senescence is one of the mechanisms for suppressing cancer, it also has adverse effects. For example, senescence of vascular endothelial cells is involved in development of vascular disorders. However, the mechanisms underlying induction of cellular senescence are not fully understood. Therefore, the present study explored the factors involved in the radiation-induced senescence in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The present study reanalyzed the gene expression data of senescent normal human endothelial cells and fibroblast after irradiation (NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus accession no. GSE130727) and microarray data of HUVECs 24 h after irradiation (NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus accession no. GSE76484). Numerous genes related to viral infection and inflammation were upregulated in radiation-induced senescent cells. In addition, the gene group involved in the retinoic acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I)-like receptor (RLR) signaling pathway, which plays an important role to induce anti-viral response, was altered in irradiated HUVECs. Therefore, to investigate the involvement of RIG-I and melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5), which are RLRs, in radiation-induced senescence of HUVECs, the protein expression of RIG-I and MDA5 and the activity of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal), a representative senescence marker, were analyzed. Of note, knockdown of RIG-I in HUVECs significantly decreased radiation-increased proportion of cells with high SA-β-gal activity (i.e., senescent cells), whereas this phenomenon was not observed in MDA5-knockdown cells. Taken together, the present results suggested that RIG-I, but not MDA5, was associated with radiation-induced senescence in HUVECs.

Long-chain polyphosphates inhibit type I interferon signaling and augment LPS-induced cytokine secretion in human leukocytes

Inorganic polyphosphates are evolutionarily conserved bioactive phosphate polymers found as various chain lengths in all living organisms. In mammals, polyphosphates play a vital role in the regulation of cellular metabolism, coagulation, and inflammation. Long-chain polyphosphates are found along with endotoxins in pathogenic gram-negative bacteria and can participate in bacterial virulence. We aimed to investigate whether exogenously administered polyphosphates modulate human leukocyte function in vitro by treating the cells with 3 different chain lengths of polyphosphates (P14, P100, and P700). The long-chain polyphosphates, P700, had a remarkable capacity to downregulate type I interferon signaling dose dependently in THP1-Dual cells while only a slight elevation could be observed in the NF-κB pathway with the highest dose of P700. P700 treatment decreased lipopolysaccharide-induced IFNβ transcription and secretion, reduced STAT1 phosphorylation, and downregulated subsequent interferon-stimulated gene expression in primary human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. P700 also augmented lipopolysaccharide-induced secretion of IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and IFNγ. Furthermore, P700 has previously been reported to increase the phosphorylation of several intracellular signaling mediators, such as AKT, mTOR, ERK, p38, GSK3α/β, HSP27, and JNK pathway components, which was supported by our findings. Taken together, these observations demonstrate the extensive modulatory effects P700 has on cytokine signaling and the inhibitory effects specifically targeted to type I interferon signaling in human leukocytes.

Application of radiation omics in the development of adverse outcome pathway networks: an example of radiation-induced cardiovascular disease

BACKGROUND

Epidemiological studies have indicated that exposure of the heart to doses of ionizing radiation as low as 0.5 Gy increases the risk of cardiac morbidity and mortality with a latency period of decades. The damaging effects of radiation to myocardial and endothelial structures and functions have been confirmed radiobiologically at high dose, but much less is known at low dose. Integration of radiation biology and epidemiology data is a recommended approach to improve the radiation risk assessment process. The adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework offers a comprehensive tool to compile and translate mechanistic information into pathological endpoints which may be relevant for risk assessment at the different levels of a biological system. Omics technologies enable the generation of large volumes of biological data at various levels of complexity, from molecular pathways to functional organisms. Given the quality and quantity of available data across levels of biology, omics data can be attractive sources of information for use within the AOP framework. It is anticipated that radiation omics studies could improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind the adverse effects of radiation on the cardiovascular system. In this review, we explored the available omics studies on radiation-induced cardiovascular disease (CVD) and their applicability to the proposed AOP for CVD.

RESULTS

The results of 80 omics studies published on radiation-induced CVD over the past 20 years have been discussed in the context of the AOP of CVD proposed by Chauhan et al. Most of the available omics data on radiation-induced CVD are from proteomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics, whereas few datasets were available from epigenomics and multi-omics. The omics data presented here show great promise in providing information for several key events of the proposed AOP of CVD, particularly oxidative stress, alterations of energy metabolism, extracellular matrix and vascular remodeling.

CONCLUSIONS

The omics data presented here shows promise to inform the various levels of the proposed AOP of CVD. However, the data highlight the urgent need of designing omics studies to address the knowledge gap concerning different radiation scenarios, time after exposure and experimental models. This review presents the evidence to build a qualitative omics-informed AOP and provides views on the potential benefits and challenges in using omics data to assess risk-related outcomes.

Analysis of circRNA-miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network in Peripheral Blood of Radiation Workers

The health of radiation workers has always been our focus. Epidemiological investigation shows that long-term exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation can affect human health, especially cancer and cardiovascular disease, and there are many studies on it. However, up to now, there have been few reports on the research of blood and biological samples from radiation workers. In this study, radiation workers and healthy control groups were strictly screened, and the transcriptome of mRNA and circRNA was sequenced by extracting their peripheral venous blood. At the same time, appropriate data sets were selected in the GEO database for bioinformatics analysis, and circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network was constructed. We identified 9 different circular ribonucleic acids, 3 tiny ribonucleic acids, and 2 central genes (NOD 2 and IRF 7). These differentially expressed genes and non-coding RNA are closely related to ionizing radiation damage, and play an important role as biological markers. In conclusion, this study may provide new insights into the role of the circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network in the health of radiation workers, and provides a new strategy for the future study of radiation biology.

Effect of human amniotic epithelial cells on ovarian function, fertility and ovarian reserve in primary ovarian insufficiency rats and analysis of underlying mechanisms by mRNA sequencing

Human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs) show similar features to stem cells and have low immunogenicity. This study aims to investigate the therapeutic effect of hAEC transplantation on cyclophosphamide-induced primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) rats and evaluate the underlying mechanisms by mRNA sequencing of ovarian samples. Notably, hAECs mainly located in the interstitial area of the ovaries rather than follicles. hAEC transplantation led to a slight increase in body and ovary weight, normalized irregular estrous cycles, decreased serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and increased anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) level and restored follicle pools in POI rats. Ovarian expression of AMH, follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) and klotho in POI rats was also significantly upregulated following hAEC transplantation. Fetus number was higher in the hAEC transplantation group than the POI group. The mRNA sequencing results showed that hAEC transplantation led to the upregulation of several angiogenesis and inflammation molecules including interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7), Mx dynamin-like GTPase 1 (Mx1), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)1 and VEGFR2. Moreover, hAEC therapy had an effect on ribosomes, protein digestion, protein absorption, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, cAMP signaling pathway and steroid biosynthesis pathways. The expression of several steroid biosynthesis proteins was significantly upregulated as measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), immunohistochemical staining and Western blot analysis. In summary, hAECs can significantly restore ovarian function, and improve both ovarian reserve and fertility. This may be due to the paracrine effect of hAECs in regulating steroid biosynthesis, modulating follicle development from initiation to ovulation, promoting angiogenesis and reducing inflammation.

Checkpoint kinase 2 is dispensable for regulation of the p53 response but is required for G2/M arrest and cell survival in cells with p53 defects under heat stress

Hyperthermia induced by heat stress (HS) is known to inhibit proliferation and induce cell death in cancer. We previously demonstrated that checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) contributes to G₂/M arrest and cell survival under HS; however, the role of Chk2, a functional analog of Chk1, in regulation of the cell cycle and cell death under HS is still unknown. Here, we addressed the role of Chk2 using Molt-4 cells with p53-targeted shRNA (Molt-4/shp53) and parental control cells (Molt-4/V). Chk2 inhibition suppressed C-terminal acetylation of p53 and delayed the induction of p53-target genes in Molt-4/V cells under HS; however, Chk2 inhibition failed to inhibit apoptosis induced by HS, indicating that Chk2 was dispensable for p53-dependent apoptosis under HS. In contrast, Chk2 inhibition abrogated G₂/M arrest and promoted cell death induced by HS in HeLa cells and Molt-4/shp53 cells. Thus, we demonstrated for the first time that Chk2 was required for cell cycle arrest and cell survival, particularly in cells with p53 defects under HS. These findings indicated that Chk2 may be a selective target for p53-mutated or -deficient cancer treated with hyperthermia.

Radiation-Induced Endothelial Inflammation Is Transferred via the Secretome to Recipient Cells in a STAT-Mediated Process

Radiation is the most common treatment of cancer. Minimizing the normal tissue injury, especially the damage to vascular endothelium, remains a challenge. This study aimed to analyze direct and indirect radiation effects on the endothelium by investigating mechanisms of signal transfer from irradiated to nonirradiated endothelial cells by means of secreted proteins. Human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCECest2) undergo radiation-induced senescence in vitro 14 days after exposure to 10 Gy X-rays. Proteomics analysis was performed on HCECest2 14 days after irradiation with X-ray doses of 0 Gy (control) or 10 Gy using label-free technology. Additionally, the proteomes of control and radiation-induced secretomes, and those of nonirradiated HCECest2 exposed for 24 h to secreted proteins of either condition were measured. Key changes identified by proteomics and bioinformatics were validated by immunoblotting, ELISA, bead-based multiplex assays, and targeted transcriptomics. The irradiated cells, their secretome, and the nonirradiated recipient cells showed similar inflammatory response, characterized by induction of interferon type I-related proteins and activation of the STAT3 pathway. These data indicate that irradiated endothelial cells may adversely affect nonirradiated surrounding cells via senescence-associated secretory phenotype. This study adds to our knowledge of the pathological background of radiation-induced cardiovascular disease.

Reprogramming Interferon Regulatory Factor Signaling in Cardiometabolic Diseases

Interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) are evolutionarily conserved proteins expressed not only in immune cells but also in other tissues and organs outside the immune system. In this review, we discuss mechanisms responsible for IRF-mediated innate immune responses and the function and mechanism of IRFs in cardiometabolic diseases. We focus on the role of IRFs in innate immunity and cardiometabolic homeostasis, and highlight reprogrammed IRF signaling.