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Zhou W, Liu K, Zeng L, He J, Gao X, Gu X, Chen X, Jing Li J, Wang M, Wu D, Cai Z, Claesson-Welsh L, Ju R, Wang J, Zhang F, Chen Y. Targeting VEGF-A/VEGFR2 Y949 Signaling-Mediated Vascular Permeability Alleviates Hypoxic Pulmonary Hypertension. Circulation 2022; 146:1855-1881. [PMID: 36384284 DOI: 10.1161/circulationaha.122.061900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is associated with increased expression of VEGF-A (vascular endothelial growth factor A) and its receptor, VEGFR2 (vascular endothelial growth factor 2), but whether and how activation of VEGF-A signal participates in the pathogenesis of PH is unclear. METHODS VEGF-A/VEGFR2 signal activation and VEGFR2 Y949-dependent vascular leak were investigated in lung samples from patients with PH and mice exposed to hypoxia. To study their mechanistic roles in hypoxic PH, we examined right ventricle systolic pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy, and pulmonary vasculopathy in mutant mice carrying knock-in of phenylalanine that replaced the tyrosine at residual 949 of VEGFR2 (Vefgr2Y949F) and mice with conditional endothelial deletion of Vegfr2 after chronic hypoxia exposure. RESULTS We show that PH leads to excessive pulmonary vascular leak in both patients and hypoxic mice, and this is because of an overactivated VEGF-A/VEGFR2 Y949 signaling axis. In the context of hypoxic PH, activation of Yes1 and c-Src and subsequent VE-cadherin phosphorylation in endothelial cells are involved in VEGFR2 Y949-induced vascular permeability. Abolishing VEGFR2 Y949 signaling by Vefgr2Y949F point mutation was sufficient to prevent pulmonary vascular permeability and inhibit macrophage infiltration and Rac1 activation in smooth muscle cells under hypoxia exposure, thereby leading to alleviated PH manifestations, including muscularization of distal pulmonary arterioles, elevated right ventricle systolic pressure, and right ventricular hypertrophy. It is important that we found that VEGFR2 Y949 signaling in myeloid cells including macrophages was trivial and dispensable for hypoxia-induced vascular abnormalities and PH. In contrast with selective blockage of VEGFR2 Y949 signaling, disruption of the entire VEGFR2 signaling by conditional endothelial deletion of Vegfr2 promotes the development of PH. CONCLUSIONS Our results support the notion that VEGF-A/VEGFR2 Y949-dependent vascular permeability is an important determinant in the pathogenesis of PH and might serve as an attractive therapeutic target pathway for this disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weibin Zhou
- Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., J.H., M.W., D.W., J.W., Y.C.).,State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., K.L., L.Z., X. Gao, X. Gu, X.C., J.J.L., R.J., F.Z.).,Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., J.H., J.W., Y.C.)
| | - Keli Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., K.L., L.Z., X. Gao, X. Gu, X.C., J.J.L., R.J., F.Z.)
| | - Lei Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., K.L., L.Z., X. Gao, X. Gu, X.C., J.J.L., R.J., F.Z.)
| | - Jiaqi He
- Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., J.H., M.W., D.W., J.W., Y.C.).,Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., J.H., J.W., Y.C.)
| | - Xinbo Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., K.L., L.Z., X. Gao, X. Gu, X.C., J.J.L., R.J., F.Z.)
| | - Xinyu Gu
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., K.L., L.Z., X. Gao, X. Gu, X.C., J.J.L., R.J., F.Z.)
| | - Xun Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., K.L., L.Z., X. Gao, X. Gu, X.C., J.J.L., R.J., F.Z.)
| | - Jing Jing Li
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., K.L., L.Z., X. Gao, X. Gu, X.C., J.J.L., R.J., F.Z.)
| | - Minghui Wang
- Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., J.H., M.W., D.W., J.W., Y.C.)
| | - Duoguang Wu
- Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., J.H., M.W., D.W., J.W., Y.C.)
| | - Zhixiong Cai
- Department of Cardiology, Shantou Central Hospital, China (Z.C.)
| | - Lena Claesson-Welsh
- Rudbeck, SciLifeLab and Beijer Laboratories, Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Sweden (L.C.-W.)
| | - Rong Ju
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., K.L., L.Z., X. Gao, X. Gu, X.C., J.J.L., R.J., F.Z.)
| | - Jingfeng Wang
- Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., J.H., M.W., D.W., J.W., Y.C.).,Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., J.H., J.W., Y.C.)
| | - Feng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., K.L., L.Z., X. Gao, X. Gu, X.C., J.J.L., R.J., F.Z.)
| | - Yangxin Chen
- Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., J.H., M.W., D.W., J.W., Y.C.).,Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Guangzhou, China (W.Z., J.H., J.W., Y.C.)
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Sheng L, Hu F, Yu H, Tao X, Jia R, Gu Y, Chen L, Kong H, Miao C, Fei W, Yang Y, Jia J, Zhu X, He X, Hu L, Ma J, Liu WT, Yang M. Paeoniflorin Inhibits ASK1-TF Axis by Up-Regulating SOCS3 to Alleviate Radiation Enteritis. Front Pharmacol 2022; 13:743708. [PMID: 35359871 PMCID: PMC8964139 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.743708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Radiation enteritis is one of the main adverse effects of radiotherapy, presenting with a poorly understood etiology and limited options for therapy. Intestinal inflammation and ischemia are the core mechanisms of radiation enteritis. Suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) is an endogenous “inflammation brake.” We hypothesized that paeoniflorin, a pinane monoterpene bitter glycoside, could increase SOCS3 expression to reduce inflammation and ischemia and improve enteritis in mice. Laser Doppler flowmetry was used to detect changes in intestinal blood flow. RAW264.7 and human umbilical vein endothelial cells were used to investigate the mechanism of action of paeoniflorin. It was observed that radiation caused high mortality, intestinal inflammatory responses, and low blood flow in mice. Paeoniflorin effectively alleviated intestinal atrophy, prevented thrombosis, improved radiation enteritis, and reduced mortality in mice undergoing radiotherapy. In addition, paeoniflorin increased the release of growth arrest-specific gene 6 (Gas6) and phosphorylation of the Axl receptor, subsequently inducing the expression of SOCS3 and inhibiting the expression of p-apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 and tissue factor in vivo and in vitro. Based on our findings, we suggest that paeoniflorin is potentially effective in alleviating radiation enteritis via the activation of the Gas6/Axl/SOCS3 axis and subsequent reduction in intestinal inflammation and ischemia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Sheng
- The Comprehensive Cancer Centre of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Department of Pharmacology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Fan Hu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Department of Pharmacology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Hanqing Yu
- Department of clinical laboratory, Children’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xueyou Tao
- Department of Anesthesiology, Yangzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital Affiliated with Yangzhou Medical University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Rumeng Jia
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Department of Pharmacology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yufeng Gu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Department of Pharmacology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Lu Chen
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Department of Pharmacology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Hong Kong
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Department of Pharmacology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Chen Miao
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Department of Pharmacology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Wenjing Fei
- The Comprehensive Cancer Centre of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yang Yang
- The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University and Jiangsu Cancer Hospital and Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China
| | - Jinhui Jia
- Department of Orthopedics, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Integration of Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Xia Zhu
- Center for Clinical Research and Translational Medicine, The Affiliated Lianyungang Oriental Hospital of Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University, Lianyungang, China
| | - Xueming He
- Center for Clinical Research and Translational Medicine, The Affiliated Lianyungang Oriental Hospital of Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University, Lianyungang, China
| | - Liang Hu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Department of Pharmacology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
- *Correspondence: Mi Yang, ; Liang Hu, ; Jianxin Ma, ; Wen-Tao Liu,
| | - Jianxin Ma
- Center for Clinical Research and Translational Medicine, The Affiliated Lianyungang Oriental Hospital of Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University, Lianyungang, China
- *Correspondence: Mi Yang, ; Liang Hu, ; Jianxin Ma, ; Wen-Tao Liu,
| | - Wen-Tao Liu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Department of Pharmacology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
- *Correspondence: Mi Yang, ; Liang Hu, ; Jianxin Ma, ; Wen-Tao Liu,
| | - Mi Yang
- The Comprehensive Cancer Centre of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
- The Comprehensive Cancer Centre of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China
- *Correspondence: Mi Yang, ; Liang Hu, ; Jianxin Ma, ; Wen-Tao Liu,
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