Project description:We hypothesized that PFKFB3 inhibits fructose metabolism in pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) and found that PFKFB3 knockout cells survive better than wild type cells in fructose-rich media, more so under hypoxia. Our findings indicate that PFKFB3 is a molecular switch that controls glucose versus fructose utilization in glycolysis and help to better understand lung endothelial cell metabolism during respiratory failure.
Project description:There is marked sexual dimorphism displayed in the onset and progression of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Females more commonly develop pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), however, females with PAH and other types of PH have better survival than males. Pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells play a crucial role in the pulmonary vascular remodelling and increased pulmonary vascular resistance of PH. Given this background, we hypothesized that there are sex differences in the pulmonary microvascular endothelium basally and in response to hypoxia that are independent of the sex hormone environment.
Project description:Overexpression of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3), a key molecule of glucose metabolism in cytoplasm, was found in various tumors. Emerging evidence suggested that PFKFB3 also located in nucleus and shown regulatory functions other than glycolysis. In this study, we found that PFKFB3 expression is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) growth and mainly located in the nucleus of tumor cells. PFKFB3 overexpression was associated with large tumor size, and poor survival of patients with HCC. Knockdown of PFKFB3 inhibited HCC growth, not only by reducing glucose consuming but also damaging DNA repair function leading to G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis. Therefore, we performed a cDNA microarray in PFKFB3 knockdown SMMC7721 cells.
Project description:Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) is the causative agent of Kaposiâs sarcoma and is associated with the angioproliferative disorders primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and multicentric Castlemanâs disease (MCD). We have previously described evidence of HHV-8 infection within the pulmonary vasculature of patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). We speculated that viral infection of the pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells could cause the angioproliferative phenotype characteristic of severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We now demonstrate the ability of HHV-8 to infect human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMVECs) in vitro, confirming both latent and lytic infection. HHV-8 infection of HPMVECs resulted in significant changes of gene expression including alterations of pathways integral to both cellular apoptosis and angiogenesis. This infection also results in alterations of genes integral to the bone morphogenic protein (BMP) pathway, including down regulation of bone morphogenic protein receptor 1a (BMPR1a) and bone morphogenic protein 4 (BMP4). Other genes previously implicated in the development of PAH are also altered in expression by HHV-8 infection. These include increased expression of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-1, MMP-2 and MMP-10. Lastly, cells infected with HHV-8 apoptosis resistant. Infection of pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells with human herepesvirus-8 results in alteration of the BMP pathway as well as an anti-apoptotic phenotype, consistent with the development of plexiform lesions characteristic of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Experiment Overall Design: ⢠Direct comparison of HHV8-infected and mock-infected human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells. Experiment Overall Design: ⢠Triplicate infection and mock infection samples were prepared. One hybridization per sample, 6 total hybridizations Experiment Overall Design: ⢠Single channel hybridization (no reference).
Project description:Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) is the causative agent of Kaposi’s sarcoma and is associated with the angioproliferative disorders primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and multicentric Castleman’s disease (MCD). We have previously described evidence of HHV-8 infection within the pulmonary vasculature of patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). We speculated that viral infection of the pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells could cause the angioproliferative phenotype characteristic of severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We now demonstrate the ability of HHV-8 to infect human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMVECs) in vitro, confirming both latent and lytic infection. HHV-8 infection of HPMVECs resulted in significant changes of gene expression including alterations of pathways integral to both cellular apoptosis and angiogenesis. This infection also results in alterations of genes integral to the bone morphogenic protein (BMP) pathway, including down regulation of bone morphogenic protein receptor 1a (BMPR1a) and bone morphogenic protein 4 (BMP4). Other genes previously implicated in the development of PAH are also altered in expression by HHV-8 infection. These include increased expression of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-1, MMP-2 and MMP-10. Lastly, cells infected with HHV-8 apoptosis resistant. Infection of pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells with human herepesvirus-8 results in alteration of the BMP pathway as well as an anti-apoptotic phenotype, consistent with the development of plexiform lesions characteristic of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Keywords: Viral infection of endothelial cells in culture
Project description:Physiological shear stress, produced by blood flow, homeostatically regulates the phenotype of pulmonary endothelial cells exerting anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic actions and maintaining normal barrier function. In the pulmonary circulation hypoxia, due to high altitude or diseases such as COPD, causes vasoconstriction, increased vascular resistance and pulmonary hypertension. Hypoxia-induced changes in endothelial function play a central role in the development of this pulmonary hypertension. However, the direct interactive effects of hypoxia and shear stress on the pulmonary endothelial phenotype have not been extensively studied. We cultured human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMEC) in normoxia or hypoxia while subjected to physiological shear stress or in static conditions. Unbiased proteomics was used to identify hypoxia-induced changes in protein expression. Using publicly available single cell RNA-seq datasets, differences in gene expression between the alveolar endothelial cells from COPD and healthy lungs were identified. 60 proteins were identified in HPMEC lysates whose expression changed in response to hypoxia in sheared but not in static conditions. mRNA for five of these (ERG, MCRIP1, EIF4A2, HSP90AA1 and DNAJA1) showed similar changes in the endothelial cells of COPD compared to healthy lungs. These data show that the proteomic responses of the pulmonary microvascular endothelium to hypoxia are significantly altered by shear stress and suggest that these differences are important in the development of hypoxic pulmonary vascular disease.
Project description:The microvasculature plays a key role in tissue perfusion, transport of mediators, and exchange of gases and metabolites to and from tissues. Microvascular dysfunction has emerged as an important contributor to cardiovascular diseases. In this study we used human blood vessel organoids (BVOs) as a model of the microvasculature to delineate the mechanisms of microvascular dysfunction caused by metabolic rewiring. BVOs fully recapitulated key features of the normal human microvasculature, including reliance of mature endothelial cells (ECs) on glycolytic metabolism, as concluded from metabolic flux assays using 13C-glucose labelling and mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. Pharmacological targeting of PFKFB3, a potent activator of glycolysis, with two different chemical inhibitors resulted in rapid BVO restructuring, vessel regression with reduced pericyte coverage. PFKFB3 mutant BVOs also displayed similar structural remodelling compared to control BVOs. Proteomic analysis of the BVO secretome revealed remodelling of the extracellular matrix and differential expression of paracrine mediators such as CTGF. Treatment with recombinant CTGF recovered tight junction formation and increased pericyte coverage in microvessels. Our metabolic and proteomics findings demonstrate that BVOs rapidly undergo restructuring in response to metabolic changes and identify CTGF as a critical paracrine regulator of microvascular integrity.
Project description:We report the results of RNA sequencing of total RNA isolated from human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells after transfection with human miR-887-3p or a negative control siRNA, both in triplicate.
Project description:To screen the differential expression of mRNAs and lncRNAs in Human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs) subjected to cyclic stretch, we performed transcriptome profiling using Affymetrix Human Transcriptome Array 2.0.
Project description:To investigate sex differences at the transcriptome level in human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs) from healthy male and female donors basally (in normoxia) and in hypoxic conditions. RNA-seq was performed on male (n=3) and female (n=4) HPMECs that were cultured in conditions of physiological shear stress (PMID: 36730645) in normoxia (21% O2) or in hypoxia (1% O2) for either 24 or 48 hours.