Davies JE, Lopresto D, Apta BHR, Lin Z, Ma W, Harper MT. Using
Yoda-1 to mimic laminar flow in vitro: A tool to simplify drug testing.
Biochem Pharmacol 2019;
168:473-80. [PMID:
31437459 DOI:
10.1016/j.bcp.2019.08.013]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2019] [Accepted: 08/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
The endothelium is an attractive drug target and an important site of adverse drug reactions. Endothelial dysfunction is strongly associated with inflammation and contributes to drug-induced cardiovascular toxicity. Endothelial cells in the circulation are exposed to haemodynamic forces including shear stress. Including shear stress may improve future endothelial cell drug discovery or toxicity screening. Piezo-1 is required for endothelial cells to respond to shear stress. In this study, we investigated whether a small molecule activator of Piezo-1, Yoda-1, can mimic the effect of laminar flow-induced shear stress on endothelial cell inflammation, and endothelial cytotoxicity in response to the chemotherapy agent, doxorubicin.
First, we tested whether Yoda-1 could mimic the effects of shear stress of expression of the endothelial adhesion molecules, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were cultured in static conditions (with or without Yoda-1) or under laminar flow-induced shear stress (5 dyn/cm2). Yoda-1 and laminar flow had similar anti-inflammatory effects, reducing the ability of TNF-α to induce ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression. We then tested whether Yoda-1 could mimic the effect of shear stress on doxorubicin-induced cytotoxicity. Both laminar flow and Yoda-1 treatment of static cultures increased the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin. These findings show that Piezo-1 activation with Yoda-1 in static culture leads to an endothelial cell phenotype that mimics endothelial cells under laminar flow. Pharmacological activation of Piezo-1 may be a useful approach to mimic constant shear stress in static cultures, which may improve endothelial drug discovery and toxicity testing.
Collapse