Effects of iloprost and sildenafil treatment on elabela, apelin-13, nitric oxide, and total antioxidant and total oxidant status in experimental enzyme-positive acute coronary syndrome in rats

Elabela Peptide: An Emerging Target in Therapeutics

Elabela, a bioactive micropeptide, is recognized as the second endogenous ligand for the Apelin receptor and is widely distributed in different tissues and organs. Elabela plays an important role in various physiological processes, such as blood pressure control, heart morphogenesis, apoptosis, angiogenesis, cell proliferation, migration, etc. Elabela is also implicated in pathological conditions, like cardiac dysfunctions, heart failure, hypertension, kidney diseases, cancer and CNS disorders. The association of Elabela with these disease conditions makes it a potential target for their therapy. This review summarizes the physiological role of Elabela peptide as well as its implication in various disease conditions.

Effects and signaling pathways of Elabela in the cardiovascular system

For a long time, Apelin has been considered as the only endogenous ligand of G protein-coupled receptor APJ. Until recently, the discovery of Elabela (Apela/Toddler) as a new polypeptide that can act through APJ and has a similar function to Apelin broke this situation. Elabela promotes a variety of cell proliferation processes, including embryonic development, and has especially beneficial effects in the cardiovascular system. In this review, we summarize the biological functions of Elabela and review its specific roles in cardiovascular diseases and the signaling pathways mediated by it.

ELABELA improves endothelial cell function via the ELA-APJ axis by activating the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway in HUVECs and EA.hy926 cells

Destruction of endothelial cells (ECs) function is involved in the structural and functional pathophysiological processes of preeclampsia (PE). Vascular endothelial injury may pre-exist for several years in women that develop PE and may pose increased risks for hypertension, coronary artery disease, and type-2 diabetes mellitus. Previous findings showed that Elabela (ELA), the endogenous ligand of the apelin (APJ) receptor expressed mainly on ECs, may play a protective role in early pregnancy and prevent PE. However, the exact functional role and molecular mechanisms of ELA are unclear. Here, we aimed to classify whether and how ELA improves EC function via the ELA-APJ axis. Two human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) lines, namely HUVECs and EA.hy926, were treated with ELA, and then their cellular activities were studied by performing CCK-8 tests, scratch-wound analysis, and tube-formation assays. Doses of ELA exceeding 0.01 μmol/L markedly improved the cell viability, migration, and tube formation ability of HUVECs and EA.hy926 cells. Western blot analysis indicated that the above effects caused by ELA were related to upregulation of the APJ receptor and activation of PI3K/Akt signalling. Further verification tests were performed using the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin, and the results illustrated that inhibiting PI3K/Akt signalling blocked the positive effects of ELA on EC function and APJ receptor expression. Taken together, our findings indicate that ELA may alter EC function via the ELA-APJ axis and PI3K/Akt signalling and that ELA shows promise for use in endothelial dysfunction therapy for preventing and treating PE.