In vivo endothelial transcriptional profiles of porcine coronary and iliac arteries
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ABSTRACT: Phenotypic heterogeneity among arterial ECs is particularly relevant to atherosclerosis since the disease occurs predominantly in major arteries, which vary in their atherosusceptibility. To explore EC heterogeneity, we used DNA microarrays to compare gene expression profiles of freshly harvested porcine coronary and iliac artery ECs. We demonstrate that in vivo the endothelial transcriptional profile of a coronary artery (the right coronary artery) is intrinsically different from that of a major conduit vessel (the external iliac artery), and that this difference is consistent with former vessel being more prone to atherosclerosis. Keywords: coronary atherosclerosis, endothelial heterogeneity, microarray, gene expression
Project description:Phenotypic heterogeneity among arterial ECs is particularly relevant to atherosclerosis since the disease occurs predominantly in major arteries, which vary in their atherosusceptibility. To explore EC heterogeneity, we used DNA microarrays to compare gene expression profiles of freshly harvested porcine coronary and iliac artery ECs. We demonstrate that in vivo the endothelial transcriptional profile of a coronary artery (the right coronary artery) is intrinsically different from that of a major conduit vessel (the external iliac artery), and that this difference is consistent with former vessel being more prone to atherosclerosis. Keywords: coronary atherosclerosis, endothelial heterogeneity, microarray, gene expression Endothelial cells were freshly harvest from right coronary, left and right iliac arteries from four pigs. RNA were isolated and expression profiles were obtained using olig microarrays.
Project description:Currently, it is well established that human endothelial cells (ECs) are characterised by a significant heterogeneity between distinct blood vessels, e.g., arteries, veins, capillaries, and lymphatic vessels. Further, even ECs belonging to the same lineage but grown under different flow patterns (e.g., laminar and oscillatory or turbulent flow) ostensibly have distinct molecular profiles defining their physiological behaviour. Human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) and human internal thoracic artery endothelial cells (HITAEC) represent two cell lines inhabiting atheroprone and atheroresistant blood vessels (coronary artery and internal thoracic artery, respectively). Resistance of the internal mammary artery to atherosclerosis has been largely attributed to the protective phenotype of HITAEC which reportedly produce higher amounts of vasodilators including nitric oxide (NO) through the respective signaling pathways. However, this hypothesis has not been adequately addressed hitherto as proteomic profiling of HCAEC and HITAEC in a head-to-head comparison setting has not been performed.
Project description:Atherosclerotic plaques tend to form in the major arteries at certain predictable locations. As these arteries vary in atherosusceptibility, inter-arterial differences in endothelial cell (EC) biology are of considerable interest. To explore the origin of differences observed between typical atheroprone and atheroresistant arteries, we used DNA microarrays to compare gene expression profiles of harvested porcine coronary (CECs) and iliac (IECs) artery ECs grown in static culture out to passage four. Fewer differences were observed between the transcriptional profiles of CECs and IECs in culture compared to in vivo, suggesting that most differences observed in vivo were due to distinct environmental cues in the two arteries. One-class significance of microarrays revealed that most in vivo interarterial differences disappeared in culture, as fold differences after passaging were not significant for 85% of genes identified as differentially expressed in vivo at a 5% false discovery rate. However, the three homeobox genes HOXA9, HOXA10, and HOXD3 remained under-expressed in coronary endothelium for all passages by at least 9, 8, and 2-fold, respectively. Continued differential expression despite removal from the in vivo environment suggests that primarily heritable or epigenetic mechanism(s) influence transcription of these three genes. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction confirmed expression ratios for seven genes associated with atherogenesis and over- or under-expressed by 3-fold in CECs relative to IECs. The present study provides evidence that both local environment and vascular bed origin modulate gene expression in arterial endothelium. The transcriptional differences observed here may provide new insights into pathways responsible for coronary artery susceptibility. Endothelial cells were freshly harvested from right coronary and iliac arteries from four pigs. Cells were cultured out to passage four. RNA was isolated after each passage and expression profiles were obtained using oligo microarrays.
Project description:Objective: To examine the effects of the phytoestrogen metabolite, equol, on gene expression in the monkey iliac artery. Design: Eight ovariectomized cynomolgus monkeys were on a high fat diet for 6.5 years. The left iliac artery was biopsied prior to randomization to equol (0.0237 g/100 g chow, n=4) or vehicle (n=4) for 8 months. The right iliac artery was obtained at necropsy. Gene expression in the iliac arteries in response to equol was determined by DNA microarray and confirmed by real time RT-PCR. Results: Atherosclerotic lesions in the iliac arteries ranged in size from 0.113-1.003 mm2 in equol-treated animals and from 0-0.873 mm2 in control animals. 59 genes were down-regulated and 279 were up-regulated in response to equol. Comparison of these data to previous work identified 10 genes regulated in opposite directions by equol compared to presence of atherosclerosis plaque. 55 genes were differentially expressed in the same direction in response to both equol and estradiol. Conclusions: Similar responses of genes to both equol and estradiol may reflect the extent to which equol serves as a natural selective estrogen receptor modulator in the arteries. Opposite responses of 10 genes to equol versus the presence of atherosclerosis implicates those genes in the potential protective effects of equol in the vasculature.
Project description:Coronary blood vessel formation is a highly regulated process in which endothelial cells (ECs) play an essential role. During the last years, new pieces of evidence have demonstrated WT1 expression in coronary ECs. However, its role in coronary blood vessel formation was almost unknown. Here we generated an inducible endothelial-specific Wt1KO mouse model (Wt1KOΔEC). The analysis of these mutant mice has demonstrated that deletion of Wt1 in coronary ECs impairs coronary blood vessels and myocardium development. The transcriptomic analysis of coronary ECs from Wt1KOΔEC mice demonstrated that deletion of Wt1 has a great impact on the molecular signature of coronary ECs that correlate with defects in cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation. These results provide novel insights into the role of WT1 in heart development and demonstrate that WT1 in ECs is required for coronary blood vessel formation.
Project description:Atherosclerotic plaques tend to form in the major arteries at certain predictable locations. As these arteries vary in atherosusceptibility, inter-arterial differences in endothelial cell (EC) biology are of considerable interest. To explore the origin of differences observed between typical atheroprone and atheroresistant arteries, we used DNA microarrays to compare gene expression profiles of harvested porcine coronary (CECs) and iliac (IECs) artery ECs grown in static culture out to passage four. Fewer differences were observed between the transcriptional profiles of CECs and IECs in culture compared to in vivo, suggesting that most differences observed in vivo were due to distinct environmental cues in the two arteries. One-class significance of microarrays revealed that most in vivo interarterial differences disappeared in culture, as fold differences after passaging were not significant for 85% of genes identified as differentially expressed in vivo at a 5% false discovery rate. However, the three homeobox genes HOXA9, HOXA10, and HOXD3 remained under-expressed in coronary endothelium for all passages by at least 9, 8, and 2-fold, respectively. Continued differential expression despite removal from the in vivo environment suggests that primarily heritable or epigenetic mechanism(s) influence transcription of these three genes. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction confirmed expression ratios for seven genes associated with atherogenesis and over- or under-expressed by 3-fold in CECs relative to IECs. The present study provides evidence that both local environment and vascular bed origin modulate gene expression in arterial endothelium. The transcriptional differences observed here may provide new insights into pathways responsible for coronary artery susceptibility.
Project description:Objective: To examine the effects of the phytoestrogen metabolite, equol, on gene expression in the monkey iliac artery. Design: Eight ovariectomized cynomolgus monkeys were on a high fat diet for 6.5 years. The left iliac artery was biopsied prior to randomization to equol (0.0237 g/100 g chow, n=4) or vehicle (n=4) for 8 months. The right iliac artery was obtained at necropsy. Gene expression in the iliac arteries in response to equol was determined by DNA microarray and confirmed by real time RT-PCR. Results: Atherosclerotic lesions in the iliac arteries ranged in size from 0.113-1.003 mm2 in equol-treated animals and from 0-0.873 mm2 in control animals. 59 genes were down-regulated and 279 were up-regulated in response to equol. Comparison of these data to previous work identified 10 genes regulated in opposite directions by equol compared to presence of atherosclerosis plaque. 55 genes were differentially expressed in the same direction in response to both equol and estradiol. Conclusions: Similar responses of genes to both equol and estradiol may reflect the extent to which equol serves as a natural selective estrogen receptor modulator in the arteries. Opposite responses of 10 genes to equol versus the presence of atherosclerosis implicates those genes in the potential protective effects of equol in the vasculature. Experiment Design: Goal of the experiment: To examine differential gene expression in the iliac arteries of ovariectomized cynomolgous monkeys on a high fat diet in response to treatment with equol. Brief description of the experiment: Objective: To examine the effects of the phytoestrogen metabolite, equol, on gene expression in the monkey iliac artery. Design: Four ovariectomized cynomolgous monkeys were on a high fat diet for 6.5 years. The left iliac artery was biopsied prior to randomization to equol (0.0237 g/100 g chow, n=4 or vehicle (n=4) for 8 months. The right iliac artery was obtained at necropsy. Gene expression in response to equol was determined by CodeLink Whole Human Genome DNA microarrays and confirmed by real time RT-PCR. Results: Atherosclerotic lesions in the iliac arteries ranged in size from 0.113-1.003 mm2 (mean 0.512 ± 0.19 mm2) in pretreatment arteries and 0.025-1.217 mm2 (mean 0.748 ± 0.22 mm2) post-equol treatment. 59 genes were down-regulated and 279 were up-regulated in response to equol. Comparison of these data to previous work identified 10 genes regulated in opposite directions by equol compared to presence of atherosclerosis plaque. 55 genes were differentially expressed in the same direction in response to both equol and estradiol. Conclusions: Similar responses of genes to both equol and estradiol may reflect the extent to which equol serves as a natural selective estrogen receptor modulator in the arteries. Opposite responses of 10 genes to equol versus the presence of atherosclerosis implicates those genes in the potential protective effects of equol in the vasculature. Keywords: nonhuman primate, equol treatment, soy isoflavones Experimental factors: equol treatment Experimental design: Female cynomolgous monkeys (n=4) had been ovariectomized for 4 years and on a high fat diet for 6.5 years. The left iliac artery was removed at surgical biopsy. Animals were treated with equol for 8 months, then necropsied. The right iliac artery was obtained at necropsy. The presence and size of atherosclerotic plaque was quantified in the iliac arteries. Arterial tissue from the iliac arteries was used for DNA microarray analysis of gene expression. Quality control steps: The cRNA that was synthesized from each iliac artery was used for hybridization to a single CodeLink (Applied Microarrays, Tempe, AZ) whole human microarray. Only one sample was hybridized with each slide and only one dye (Alexa 647) was used so no dye swaps were necessary. Bacterial control spikes were used as per manufacturer's instructions. Samples used, extract preparation and labeling: The origin of each biological sample: The samples were iliac arterial tissue from cynomolgous monkeys. Manipulations of biological samples and protocols used: Cynomolgous monkeys were placed on a high fat diet 6.5 years before the experiment and ovariectomized 4 years prior to the experiment to induce a surgical menopause. The left iliac artery was surgically removed from each animal in the study before treatment with equol, the the right iliac artery was removed after the treatment period at necropsy. The presence and size of atherosclerotic plaque was quantified in the iliac arteries Experimental factor: hormone treatment Technical protocols: The iliac arteries were homogenized in TRI reagent, bromochloropropane and sodium acetate were added, and the samples were centrifuged to separate the phases. The RNA-containing layer was removed and the RNA purified on an RNeasy extraction column (Qiagen). The sample was treated with an on-column DNase treatment (RNase-free DNase, Qiagen). The purity and quantity of RNA were evaluated by an Agilent Bioanalyzer using the RNA 6000 Nanoassay LabChip. Labeled cRNA was prepared using the MessageAmp II-Biotin enhanced kit (Ambion). 0.275 microgram of total iliac artery RNA was mixed with bacterial control RNA spikes and primed with T7 oligo(dT) primer for 10 min at 70C. (The bacterial control spikes included araB, entF, fixB, gnd, hisB, and leuB.) The first strand of cDNA was synthesized with first strand buffer, dNTP mix, RNase inhibitor, and reverse transcriptase for 2 h at 42C. The second strand cDNA synthesis reaction was prepared using second strand buffer, dNTP mix, DNA polymerase mix, and RNase H; the reaction was carried out for 2h at 16C. The double-stranded cDNA was purified on QIAquick columns (Qiagen) and the eluent was dried down in a SpeedVac concentrator. The double-stranded cDNA was resuspended in a mixture containing T7 reaction buffer, T7 ATP, T7 GTP, T7 UTP, T7 CTP, biotin-11-UTP, and T7 enzyme mix for the synthesis of cRNA. The cRNA synthesis reaction was terminated after 14h at 37C by purifying the cRNA on RNeasy columns (Qiagen). The concentration of cRNA was determined by spectrophotometry. Hybridization procedures and parameters: 10 micrograms of cRNA was mixed with fragmentation buffer and heated to 94C for 20 min. The fragmented cRNA was mixed with CodeLink hybridization buffer, loaded on the microarray slides, and hybridized for 18 hours at 37C. The slides were washed in 0.75x TNT (Tris-HCl, NaCl, Tween-20) at 46C for 1h then incubated with streptavidin-Alexa 647 fluorescent dye for 30 min at room temperature. The Alexa fluor was prepared in TNB blocking buffer (0.1M Tris-HCl, 0.15M NaCL, 0.5% NEN Blocking Reagent-PerkinElmer) The slides were then washed 4 times for 5 min each in 1x TNT and twice in 0.05% Tween 20 for 5 sec each. The slides were dried by centrifugation and scanned in an Axon GenePix 4000B scanner.
Project description:To understand how Wnt/β-catenin signaling-activated cardiomyocytes (β-cat ON CMs) promote coronary vessel development, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing of endothelial cells (ECs) sorted from the hearts ablated β-cat ON CMs and those from control hearts, respectively. Our analyses indicated that β-cat ON CMs regulates coronary vessel development by promoting arterialization, a step in the transition of endocardial ECs to coronary ECs.
Project description:Vascular endothelial cells play an important role in the development of coronary artery disease, their injury leads to coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis. This study aimed to elucidate the role of FOXO3-regulated target gene expression and alternative splicing in vascular endothelial cell injury in coronary artery disease
Project description:Goal of the experiment: To examine differential gene expression in the iliac arteries of cynomolgous monkeys in the presence of small, medium, or large atherosclerotic plaque. Brief description of the experiment: Objective: To examine global gene expression patterns in the iliac arteries of monkeys containing small, medium, or large atherosclerotic plaque. Design: The left iliac artery of 12 ovariectomized cynomolgous monkeys on a high fat diet for 8 years was biopsied. Gene expression was analyzed by DNA microarray and real time RT-PCR. Results: Significant up- or down-regulation of 986 genes was observed in monkey iliac arteries in the presence of atherosclerotic plaque. Changes in gene expression with atherosclerosis ranged from 0.1-151.9-fold. Differentially expressed genes included many cytokines, chemokines, components of signal transduction pathways, and transcriptional activators and repressors, among others. Real time RT-PCR confirmed down-regulation of estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1), claudin 11, BH protocadherin 7 (PCDH7), and the up-regulation of apolipoprotein E (ApoE), growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2), SET domain, bifurcated 2 (SETDB2), phospholipase A2 group IIA (PLA2IIA), phospholipase A2 group VII (PLA2VII), and ring finger protein 149 (RNF149). Conclusions: The gene expression environment in arteries containing atherosclerotic plaque is profoundly different from that of arteries without atherosclerosis. The data suggest that the changes in gene expression contribute to the disease process in diseased arteries.