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Tien (田婷怡) TY, Wu (吳懿哲) YJ, Su (蘇正煌) CH, Wang (王學孝) HH, Hsieh (謝金玲) CL, Wang (王博正) BJ, Su (蘇瑀) Y, Yeh (葉宏一) HI. Reduction of Connexin 43 Attenuates Angiogenic Effects of Human Smooth Muscle Progenitor Cells via Inactivation of Akt and NF-κB Pathway. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2021; 41:915-930. [PMID: 33356390 DOI: 10.1161/atvbaha.120.315650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Circulating progenitor cells possess vasculogenesis property and participate in repair of vascular injury. Cx (connexin) 43-a transmembrane protein constituting gap junctions-is involved in vascular pathology. However, the role of Cx43 in smooth muscle progenitor cells (SPCs) remained unclear. Approach and Results: Human SPCs cultured from CD34+ peripheral blood mononuclear cells expressed smooth muscle cell markers, such as smooth muscle MHC (myosin heavy chain), nonmuscle MHC, calponin, and CD140B, and Cx43 was the most abundant Cx isoform. To evaluate the role of Cx43 in SPCs, short interference RNA was used to knock down Cx43 expression. Cellular activities of SPCs were reduced by Cx43 downregulation. In addition, Cx43 downregulation attenuated angiogenic potential of SPCs in hind limb ischemia mice. Protein array and ELISA of the supernatant from SPCs showed that IL (interleukin)-6, IL-8, and HGF (hepatocyte growth factor) were reduced by Cx43 downregulation. Simultaneously, Cx43 downregulation reduced the phosphorylation of NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells) and Akt (protein kinase B) pathway and reactivation of NF-κB and Akt using betulinic acid, and SC79 could restore the secretion of growth factors and cytokines. Moreover, FAK (focal adhesion kinase)-Src (proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src) activation was increased by Cx43 downregulation, and inactivation of Akt-NF-κB could be restored by Src inhibitor (PP2), indicating that Akt-NF-κB inactivated by Cx43 downregulation arose from FAK-Src activation. Finally, the depressed cellular activities and secretion of SPCs after Cx43 downregulation were restored by FAK inhibitor PF-562271 or PP2. CONCLUSIONS SPCs possess angiogenic potential to repair ischemic tissue mainly through paracrine effects. Gap junction protein Cx43 plays an important role in regulating cellular function and paracrine effects of SPCs through FAK-Src axis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ting-Yi Tien (田婷怡)
- Department of Medical Research (T.-Y.T., C.-L.H., B.-J.W.), MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- Institute of Biopharmaceutical Science/National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan (T.-Y.T., Y.S.)
| | - Yih-Jer Wu (吳懿哲)
- Department of Internal Medicine (Y.-J.W., C.-H.S., H.-I.Y.), MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Medicine, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan (Y.-J.W., C.-H.S., H.-H.W.)
| | - Cheng-Huang Su (蘇正煌)
- Department of Internal Medicine (Y.-J.W., C.-H.S., H.-I.Y.), MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Medicine, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan (Y.-J.W., C.-H.S., H.-H.W.)
| | - Hsueh-Hsiao Wang (王學孝)
- Department of Medicine, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan (Y.-J.W., C.-H.S., H.-H.W.)
| | - Chin-Ling Hsieh (謝金玲)
- Department of Medical Research (T.-Y.T., C.-L.H., B.-J.W.), MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Bo-Jeng Wang (王博正)
- Department of Medical Research (T.-Y.T., C.-L.H., B.-J.W.), MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yeu Su (蘇瑀)
- Institute of Biopharmaceutical Science/National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan (T.-Y.T., Y.S.)
| | - Hung-I. Yeh (葉宏一)
- Department of Internal Medicine (Y.-J.W., C.-H.S., H.-I.Y.), MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
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