Zhang F, Cheng J, Hackett NR, Lam G, Shido K, Pergolizzi R, Jin DK, Crystal RG, Rafii S. Adenovirus E4 gene promotes selective endothelial cell survival and angiogenesis via activation of the vascular endothelial-cadherin/Akt signaling pathway.
J Biol Chem 2003;
279:11760-6. [PMID:
14660586 DOI:
10.1074/jbc.m312221200]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The early 4 region (E4) of the adenoviral vectors (AdE4(+)) prolongs human endothelial cell (EC) survival and alters the angiogenic response, although the mechanisms for the EC-specific, AdE4(+)-mediated effects remain unknown. We hypothesized that AdE4(+) modulates EC survival through activation of the vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin/Akt pathway. Here, we showed that AdE4(+), but not AdE4(-) vectors, selectively stimulated phosphorylation of both Akt at Ser(473) and Src kinase in ECs. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitors LY294002 and wortmannin abrogated AdE4(+) induction of both phospho-Akt expression and prolonged EC survival. Regulation of phospho-Akt was found to be under the control of various factors, namely VE-cadherin activation, Src kinase, tyrosine kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Downstream targets of Akt signaling resulted in glycogen synthase kinase-3alpha/beta phosphorylation, beta-catenin up-regulation, and caspase-3 suppression, all of which led to AdE4(+)-mediated EC survival. Furthermore, infection with AdE4(+) vectors increased the angiogenic potential of ECs by promoting EC migration and capillary tube formation in Matrigel plugs. This selective AdE4(+)-mediated enhanced motility of ECs was also blocked by PI3K inhibitors. Taken together, these results suggest that activation of the VE-cadherin/Akt pathway is critical for AdE4(+)-mediated survival of ECs and angiogenic potential.
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