1. Quantitative assessment of the apical and basolateral membrane expression of VEGFR2 and NRP2 in VEGF-A-stimulated cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cellsEsmeralda K. Bosma, Shahan Darwesh, Jia Y. Zheng, Cornelis J. F. van Noorden, Reinier O. Schlingemann, Ingeborg Klaassen, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: Endothelial cells (ECs) form a precisely regulated polarized monolayer in capillary walls. Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) induces endothelial hyperpermeability, and VEGF-A applied to the basolateral side, but not the apical side, has been shown to be a strong barrier disruptor in blood–retinal barrier ECs. We show here that VEGF-A presented to the basolateral side of human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs) induces higher permeability than apical stimulation, which is similar to results obtained with bovine retinal ECs. We investigated with immunocytochemistry and confocal imaging the distribution of VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR2) and neuropilin-2 (NRP2) in perinuclear apical and basolateral membrane domains. Orthogonal z-sections of cultured HUVECs were obtained, and the fluorescence intensity at the apical and basolateral membrane compartments was measured. We found that VEGFR2 and NRP2 are evenly distributed throughout perinuclear apical and basolateral membrane compartments in unstimulated HUVECs grown on Transwell inserts, whereas basolateral VEGF-A stimulation induces a shift toward basolateral VEGFR2 and NRP2 localization. When HUVECs were grown on coverslips, the distribution of VEGFR2 and NRP2 across the perinuclear apical and basolateral membrane domains was different. Our findings demonstrate that HUVECs dynamically regulate VEGFR2 and NRP2 localization on membrane microdomains, depending on growth conditions and the polarity of VEGF-A stimulation. Keywords: endotelijske celice, EGF, celična biologija Published in DiRROS: 17.07.2024; Views: 210; Downloads: 148 Full text (5,94 MB) This document has many files! More... |
2. Diferential roles of eNOS in late efects ofVEGF‑A on hyperpermeability in diferent types of endothelial cellsEsmeralda K. Bosma, Shahan Darwesh, Yasmin I. Habani, Maxime Cammeraat, Paola Serrano Martinez, Mathilda E. van Breest Smallenburg, JiaY. Zheng, Ilse M.C. Vogels, Cornelis J. F. van Noorden, Reinier O. Schlingemann, Ingeborg Klaassen, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A induces endothelial hyperpermeability, but the molecular
pathways remain incompletely understood. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) regulates acute
efects of VEGF-A on permeability of endothelial cells (ECs), but it remains unknown whether and how
eNOS regulates late efects of VEGF-A-induced hyperpermeability. Here we show that VEGF-A induces
hyperpermeability via eNOS-dependent and eNOS-independent mechanisms at 2 days after VEGF-A
stimulation. Silencing of expression of the eNOS gene (NOS3) reduced VEGF-A-induced permeability
for dextran (70 kDa) and 766 Da-tracer in human dermal microvascular ECs (HDMVECs), but not in
human retinal microvascular ECs (HRECs) and human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs). However, silencing
of NOS3 expression in HRECs increased permeability to dextran, BSA and 766 Da-tracer in the absence
of VEGF-A stimulation, suggesting a barrier-protective function of eNOS. We also investigated how
silencing of NOS3 expression regulates the expression of permeability-related transcripts, and
found that NOS3 silencing downregulates the expression of PLVAP, a molecule associated with
trans-endothelial transport via caveolae, in HDMVECs and HUVECs, but not in HRECs. Our fndings
underscore the complexity of VEGF-A-induced permeability pathways in ECs and the role of eNOS
therein, and demonstrate that diferent pathways are activated depending on the EC phenotype.
Keywords: endocytosis, RNAi, hyperpermeability Published in DiRROS: 15.07.2024; Views: 264; Downloads: 181 Full text (1,53 MB) This document has many files! More... |