Dataset Information

Heterogeneity in VEGF Receptor-2 Mobility and Organization on the Endothelial Cell Surface Leads to Diverse Models of Activation by VEGF

ABSTRACT: SUMMARY The dynamic nanoscale organization of cell surface receptors plays an important role in signaling. We determine this organization and its relation to activation of VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR-2), a critical receptor tyrosine kinase in endothelial cells (ECs), by combining single-molecule imaging of endogenous VEGFR-2 in live ECs with multiscale computational analysis. We find that surface VEGFR-2 can be mobile or exhibit restricted mobility and be monomeric or non-monomeric, with a complex interplay between the two. This basal heterogeneity results in heterogeneity in the sequence of steps leading to VEGFR-2 activation by VEGF. Specifically, we find that VEGF can bind to monomeric and non-monomeric VEGFR-2 and that, when binding to monomeric VEGFR-2, its effect on dimerization depends on the mobility of VEGFR-2. Our study highlights the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of cell surface receptor organization and the need for multiscale, single-molecule-based analysis to determine its relationship to receptor activation and signaling. Graphical Abstract In Brief da Rocha-Azevedo et al. show that VEGFR-2 exhibits mobility and interaction heterogeneity on the endothelial cell surface. The sequence of steps leading to VEGFR-2 activation by VEGF depends on the basal state of VEGFR-2. Thus, there is not one model but multiple co-existing models of VEGFR-2 activation by VEGF.

SUBMITTER: da Rocha-Azevedo B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7541195 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundObesity is a major risk factor for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, heart failure, and stroke. Impaired endothelial function occurs in the earliest stages of obesity and underlies vascular alterations that give rise to cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanisms that link weight gain to endothelial dysfunction are ill-defined. Increasing evidence suggests that endothelial cells are not a population of uniform cells but are highly heterogeneous and are organized as a communicating multicellular network that controls vascular function.PurposeTo investigate the hypothesis that disrupted endothelial heterogeneity and network-level organization contribute to impaired vascular reactivity in obesity.Methods and resultsTo study obesity-related vascular function without complications associated with diabetes, a state of prediabetic obesity was induced in rats. Small artery diameter recordings confirmed nitric-oxide mediated vasodilator responses were dependent on increases in endothelial calcium levels and were impaired in obese animals. Single-photon imaging revealed a linear relationship between blood vessel relaxation and population-wide calcium responses. Obesity did not alter the slope of this relationship, but impaired calcium responses in the endothelial cell network. The network comprised structural and functional components. The structural architecture, a hexagonal lattice network of connected cells, was unchanged in obesity. The functional network contained sub-populations of clustered specialized agonist-sensing cells from which signals were communicated through the network. In obesity there were fewer but larger clusters of sensory cells and communication path lengths between clusters increased. Communication between neighboring cells was unaltered in obesity. Altered network organization resulted in impaired, population-level calcium signaling and deficient endothelial control of vascular tone.ConclusionsThe distribution of cells in the endothelial network is critical in determining overall vascular response. Altered cell heterogeneity and arrangement in obesity decreases endothelial function and provides a novel framework for understanding compromised endothelial function in cardiovascular disease.

Dataset Information

Heterogeneity in VEGF Receptor-2 Mobility and Organization on the Endothelial Cell Surface Leads to Diverse Models of Activation by VEGF

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets