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Angiogenesis Nov 2022While inhibiting pathological angiogenesis has been long associated with the field of oncology, recent advances in angiogenesis research have impacted the progress of...
While inhibiting pathological angiogenesis has been long associated with the field of oncology, recent advances in angiogenesis research have impacted the progress of disease treatment for additional non-malignant diseases or chronic conditions in the fields of ophthalmology, cardiology, and gynecology. Moreover, stimulators of angiogenesis find application in ischemic diseases, while inhibitors of angiogenesis are being used to limit blood vessel formation, but in judicious ways that modify or "reprogram" the vasculature as a reinforcement for immunotherapy. We have noticed an increasing impact, as evidenced by increases in the total number of citations, in the literature surrounding the angiogenesis field suggesting that targeting angiogenesis per se is well established as a tractable approach for therapy in diverse conditions.
Topics: Angiogenesis Inhibitors; Humans; Immunotherapy; Neoplasms; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Neovascularization, Physiologic
PubMed: 35881257
DOI: 10.1007/s10456-022-09849-2 -
International Journal of Biological... Dec 2022Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most prevalent malignancies in adult males. However, PCa is resistant to multi-kinase inhibitors-based anti-angiogenic therapies, and...
Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most prevalent malignancies in adult males. However, PCa is resistant to multi-kinase inhibitors-based anti-angiogenic therapies, and the mechanism and effective targeting thereof remains unclear. In this study, single-cell and bulk-transcriptomic datasets analysis revealed that KIAA1199, a hyaluronic acid (HA) binding protein, was involved in glycolysis, hypoxia and angiogenesis pathways. Moreover, boosted KIAA1199 expression in PCa tissues was positively correlated with tumor stage, hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α overexpression, as well as angiogenesis markers. Tube formation, Western blot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and in vivo tumorigenesis results demonstrated that KIAA1199 silencing significantly inhibited angiogenesis and vasculogenic mimicry (VM), both in vitro and in vivo, by increasing semaphoring 3A (sema3A) expression while decreasing expressions of VEGFA, VE-cadherin, phosphorylated EphA2, and depolymerized HA levels. KIAA1199 overexpression was also found to promote angiogenesis and VM via increasing secretory VEGFA, however, this activity could be reversed by the HA biosynthesis inhibitor 4-methylumbelliferone (4MU). Furthermore, dual-luciferase and ChIP-PCR revealed that HIF1α is the transcriptional enhancer of KIAA1199, while lactate imported to PCa cells by monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) stabilizes HIF1α under normoxia via HIF1α lactylation. Our findings may provide a better understanding of angiogenesis and a promising therapeutic target of PCa.
Topics: Adult; Male; Humans; Cell Line, Tumor; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Prostatic Neoplasms; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; Hypoxia
PubMed: 36209908
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.10.014 -
Journal of Hepatology Jan 2024Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is among the most prevalent and lethal cancers worldwide. The tumor microenvironment (TME) contributes to the poor response of patients...
BACKGROUND & AIMS
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is among the most prevalent and lethal cancers worldwide. The tumor microenvironment (TME) contributes to the poor response of patients with HCC to current therapies, while tumor vascular endothelial cells (ECs) are fundamental TME components that significantly contribute to tumor progression. However, the specific functions and mechanisms of tumor vascular ECs in HCC remain unclear.
METHODS
We screened and validated diacylglycerol kinase gamma (DGKG) hyper-expression specifically in HCC tumor vascular ECs. Single-cell RNA-sequencing, cytometry by time-of-flight, and in vitro and in vivo studies were performed to investigate the functions of endothelial DGKG. Multiplexed immunohistochemistry staining and flow cytometry were used to evaluate changes in the TME.
RESULTS
Functionally, endothelial DGKG promotes tumor angiogenesis and immunosuppressive regulatory T-cell differentiation in HCC. Of significance, we found that HIF-1α activates DGKG transcription by directly binding to its promoter region under hypoxia. Upregulated DGKG promotes HCC progression by recruiting ubiquitin specific peptidase 16 to facilitate ZEB2 deubiquitination, which increases TGF-β1 secretion, thus inducing tumor angiogenesis and regulatory T-cell differentiation. Importantly, targeting endothelial DGKG potentiated the efficiency of dual blockade of PD-1 and VEGFR-2.
CONCLUSION
Hypoxia-induced EC-specific DGKG hyper-expression promotes tumor angiogenesis and immune evasion via the ZEB2/TGF-β1 axis, suggesting EC-specific DGKG as a potential therapeutic target for HCC.
IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS
Here, we reported that hypoxia-induced endothelial cell-specific DGKG hyper-expression promotes angiogenesis and immune evasion in HCC by recruiting USP16 for K48-linked deubiquitination and inducing the subsequent stabilization of ZEB2, leading to increased TGF-β1 secretion. Most importantly, endothelial DGKG inhibition greatly improved the efficacy of the dual combination of anti-VEGFR2 and anti-PD-1 treatment in a mouse HCC model, significantly inhibiting the malignant progression of HCC and improving survival. This preclinical study supports the targeting of endothelial DGKG as a potential strategy for precision HCC treatment.
Topics: Mice; Animals; Humans; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Liver Neoplasms; Transforming Growth Factor beta1; Endothelial Cells; Immune Evasion; Angiogenesis; Cell Line, Tumor; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Hypoxia; Disease Models, Animal; Tumor Microenvironment
PubMed: 37838036
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2023.10.006 -
Molecular Neurobiology May 2020Angiogenesis is the growth of new capillaries from the preexisting blood vessels. Glioblastoma (GBM) tumors are highly vascularized tumors, and glioma growth depends on... (Review)
Review
Angiogenesis is the growth of new capillaries from the preexisting blood vessels. Glioblastoma (GBM) tumors are highly vascularized tumors, and glioma growth depends on the formation of new blood vessels. Angiogenesis is a complex process involving proliferation, migration, and differentiation of vascular endothelial cells (ECs) under the stimulation of specific signals. It is controlled by the balance between its promoting and inhibiting factors. Various angiogenic factors and genes have been identified that stimulate glioma angiogenesis. Therefore, attention has been directed to anti-angiogenesis therapy in which glioma proliferation is inhibited by inhibiting the formation of new tumor vessels using angiogenesis inhibitory factors and drugs. Here, in this review, we highlight and summarize the various molecular mediators that regulate GBM angiogenesis with focus on recent clinical research on the potential of exploiting angiogenic pathways as a strategy in the treatment of GBM patients.
Topics: Adult; Angiogenesis Inhibitors; Angiogenic Proteins; Antineoplastic Agents; Brain Neoplasms; Cell Differentiation; Cell Hypoxia; Clinical Trials as Topic; Glioblastoma; Humans; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Matrix Metalloproteinases; Molecular Targeted Therapy; Neoplasm Proteins; Neoplastic Stem Cells; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Neovascularization, Physiologic; Tumor Microenvironment; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
PubMed: 32152825
DOI: 10.1007/s12035-020-01892-8 -
Theranostics 2020Anti-angiogenesis is an important and promising strategy in cancer therapy. However, the current methods using anti-vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA)...
Anti-angiogenesis is an important and promising strategy in cancer therapy. However, the current methods using anti-vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) antibodies or inhibitors targeting VEGFA receptors are not as efficient as expected partly due to their low efficiencies in blocking VEGFA signaling . Until now, there is still no method to effectively block VEGFA production in cancer cells from the very beginning, i.e., from the transcriptional level. Here, we aimed to find bioactive small molecules to block VEGFA transcription. We screened our natural compound pool containing 330 small molecules derived from Chinese traditional herbs for small molecules activating the expression of seryl-tRNA synthetase (SerRS), which is a newly identified potent transcriptional repressor of VEGFA, by a cell-based screening system in MDA-MB-231 cell line. The activities of the candidate molecules on regulating SerRS and VEGFA expression were first tested in breast cancer cells. We next investigated the antiangiogenic activity by testing the effects of candidate drugs on the vascular development in zebrafish and by matrigel plug angiogenesis assay in mice. We further examined the antitumor activities of candidate drugs in two triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)-bearing mouse models. Furthermore, streptavidin-biotin affinity pull-down assay, coimmunoprecipitation assays, docking analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation were performed to identify the direct targets of candidate drugs. We identified emodin that could greatly increase SerRS expression in TNBC cells, consequently reducing VEGFA transcription. Emodin potently inhibited vascular development of zebrafish and blocked tumor angiogenesis in TNBC-bearing mice, greatly improving the survival. We also identified nuclear receptor corepressor 2 (NCOR2) to be the direct target of emodin. Once bound by emodin, NCOR2 got released from SerRS promoter, resulting in the activation of SerRS expression and eventually the suppression of VEGFA transcription. We discovered a herb-sourced small molecule emodin with the potential for the therapy of TNBC by targeting transcriptional regulators NCOR2 and SerRS to suppress VEGFA transcription and tumor angiogenesis.
Topics: Angiogenesis Inhibitors; Animals; Breast Neoplasms; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Movement; Disease Models, Animal; Emodin; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Herbal Medicine; Humans; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Inbred NOD; Mice, SCID; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; Serine-tRNA Ligase; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; Zebrafish
PubMed: 32550907
DOI: 10.7150/thno.43622 -
Cell Metabolism Sep 2019In 2009, it was postulated that endothelial cells (ECs) would only be able to execute the orders of growth factors if these cells would accordingly adapt their... (Review)
Review
In 2009, it was postulated that endothelial cells (ECs) would only be able to execute the orders of growth factors if these cells would accordingly adapt their metabolism. Ten years later, it has become clear that ECs, often differently from other cell types, rely on distinct metabolic pathways to survive and form new blood vessels; that manipulation of EC metabolic pathways alone (even without changing angiogenic signaling) suffices to alter vessel sprouting; and that perturbations of these metabolic pathways can underlie excess formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) in cancer and ocular diseases. Initial proof of evidence has been provided that targeting (normalizing) these metabolic perturbations in diseased ECs and delivery of metabolites deserve increasing attention as novel therapeutic approaches for inhibiting or stimulating vessel growth in multiple disorders.
Topics: Animals; Endothelial Cells; Fibroblast Growth Factors; Glycolysis; Humans; Mice; Neoplasms; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Neovascularization, Physiologic; Retinal Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
PubMed: 31484054
DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2019.08.011 -
Current Opinion in Hematology May 2020Since the first discovery of Angiopoetin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) in 2000, the involvement of ANGPTL4 in different aspects of lipid metabolism and vascular biology has emerged... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Since the first discovery of Angiopoetin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) in 2000, the involvement of ANGPTL4 in different aspects of lipid metabolism and vascular biology has emerged as an important research field. In this review, we summarize the fundamental roles of ANGPTL4 in regulating metabolic and nonmetabolic functions and their implication in lipid metabolism and with several aspects of vascular function and dysfunction.
RECENT FINDINGS
ANGPTL4 is a secreted glycoprotein with a physiological role in lipid metabolism and a predominant expression in adipose tissue and liver. ANGPTL4 inhibits the activity of lipoprotein lipase and thereby promotes an increase in circulating triglyceride levels. Therefore, ANGPTL4 has been highly scrutinized as a potential therapeutic target. Further involvement of ANGPTL4 has been shown to occur in tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, vascular permeability and stem cell regulation, which opens new opportunities of using ANGPTL4 as potential therapeutic targets for other pathophysiological conditions.
SUMMARY
Further determination of ANGPTL4 regulatory circuits and defining specific molecular events that mediate its biological effects remain key to future ANGPTL4-based therapeutic applications in different disease settings. Many new and unanticipated roles of ANGPTL4 in the control of cell-specific functions will assist clinicians and researchers in developing potential therapeutic applications.
Topics: Angiopoietin-Like Protein 4; Animals; Capillary Permeability; Carcinogenesis; Humans; Lipid Metabolism; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Stem Cells
PubMed: 32205586
DOI: 10.1097/MOH.0000000000000580 -
Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy Aug 2023Normal high-density lipoprotein (nHDL) can induce angiogenesis in healthy individuals. However, HDL from patients with coronary artery disease undergoes various...
Normal high-density lipoprotein (nHDL) can induce angiogenesis in healthy individuals. However, HDL from patients with coronary artery disease undergoes various modifications, becomes dysfunctional (dHDL), and loses its ability to promote angiogenesis. Here, we identified a long non-coding RNA, HDRACA, that is involved in the regulation of angiogenesis by HDL. In this study, we showed that nHDL downregulates the expression of HDRACA in endothelial cells by activating WW domain-containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 2, which catalyzes the ubiquitination and subsequent degradation of its transcription factor, Kruppel-like factor 5, via sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor 1. In contrast, dHDL with lower levels of S1P than nHDL were much less effective in decreasing the expression of HDRACA. HDRACA was able to bind to Ras-interacting protein 1 (RAIN) to hinder the interaction between RAIN and vigilin, which led to an increase in the binding between the vigilin protein and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) mRNA, resulting in a decrease in the expression of PCNA and inhibition of angiogenesis. The expression of human HDRACA in a hindlimb ischemia mouse model inhibited the recovery of angiogenesis. Taken together, these findings suggest that HDRACA is involved in the HDL regulation of angiogenesis, which nHDL inhibits the expression of HDRACA to induce angiogenesis, and that dHDL is much less effective in inhibiting HDRACA expression, which provides an explanation for the decreased ability of dHDL to stimulate angiogenesis.
Topics: Mice; Animals; Humans; Lipoproteins, HDL; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; RNA, Long Noncoding; Endothelial Cells; Neovascularization, Physiologic
PubMed: 37574469
DOI: 10.1038/s41392-023-01558-6 -
Stem Cell Research & Therapy Aug 2020Myocardial infarction (MI) is a severe disease that often associated with dysfunction of angiogenesis. Cell-based therapies for MI using mesenchymal stem cell...
BACKGROUND
Myocardial infarction (MI) is a severe disease that often associated with dysfunction of angiogenesis. Cell-based therapies for MI using mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived exosomes have been well studied due to their strong proangiogenic effect. Genetic modification is one of the most common methods to enhance exosome therapy. This study investigated the proangiogenic and cardioprotective effect of exosomes derived from hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α)-modified MSCs.
METHODS
Lentivirus containing HIF-1α overexpressing vector was packaged and used to infect MSCs. Exosomes were isolated from MSC-conditioned medium by ultracentrifugation. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated under hypoxia condition for 48 h co-cultured with PBS, control exosomes, or HIF-1α-overexpressed exosomes, respectively. Then the preconditioned HUVECs were subjected to tube formation assay, Transwell assay, and EdU assay to evaluate the protective effect of exosomes. Meanwhile, mRNA and secretion levels of proangiogenic factors were measured by RT-qPCR and ELISA assays. In vivo assays were conducted using the rat myocardial infarction model. PBS, control exosomes, or HIF-1α-overexpressed exosomes were injected through tail vein after MI surgery. Heart function was assessed by echocardiography at days 3, 14, and 28. At day 7, mRNA and protein expression levels of proangiogenic factors in the peri-infarction area and circulation were evaluated, respectively. At day 28, hearts were collected and subjected to H&E staining, Masson's trichrome staining, and immunofluorescent staining.
RESULTS
HIF-1α-overexpressed exosomes rescued the impaired angiogenic ability, migratory function, and proliferation of hypoxia-injured HUVECs. Simultaneously, HIF-1α-overexpressed exosomes preserved heart function by promoting neovessel formation and inhibiting fibrosis in the rat MI model. In addition, both in vitro and in vivo proangiogenic factors mRNA and protein expression levels were elevated after HIF-1α-overexpressed exosome application.
CONCLUSION
HIF-1α-overexpressed exosomes could rescue the impaired angiogenic ability, migration, and proliferation of hypoxia-pretreated HUVECs in vitro and mediate cardioprotection by upregulating proangiogenic factors and enhancing neovessel formation.
Topics: Animals; Exosomes; Humans; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; Mesenchymal Stem Cells; Myocardial Infarction; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Neovascularization, Physiologic; Rats
PubMed: 32859268
DOI: 10.1186/s13287-020-01881-7 -
Angiogenesis Aug 2020Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide with a rising incidence, and is the leading cause of cancer-related death among females. Angiogenesis plays an...
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide with a rising incidence, and is the leading cause of cancer-related death among females. Angiogenesis plays an important role in breast cancer growth and metastasis. In this study, we identify decylubiquinone (DUb), a coenzyme Q analog, as a promising anti-breast cancer agent through suppressing tumor-induced angiogenesis. We screened a library comprising FDA-approved drugs and found that DUb significantly inhibits blood vessel formation using in vivo chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) and yolk sac membrane (YSM) models. DUb was further identified to inhibit angiogenesis in the rat aortic ring and Matrigel plug assay. Moreover, DUb was found to suppress breast cancer growth and metastasis in the MMTV-PyMT transgenic mouse and human xenograft tumor models. To explore whether the anticancer efficacy of DUb was directly corrected with tumor-induced angiogenesis, the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer assay on the CAM was performed. Interestingly, DUb significantly inhibits the angiogenesis of breast cancer on the CAM. Brain angiogenesis inhibitor 1 (BAI1), a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) adhesion subfamily, has an important effect on the inhibition of angiogenesis. Further studies demonstrate that DUb suppresses the formation of tubular structures by regulating the reactive oxygen species (ROS)/p53/BAI1 signaling pathway. These results uncover a novel finding that DUb has the potential to be an effective agent for the treatment of breast cancer by inhibiting tumor-induced angiogenesis.
Topics: Animals; Breast Neoplasms; Chick Embryo; Female; Humans; MCF-7 Cells; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neoplasm Proteins; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases; Reactive Oxygen Species; Signal Transduction; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; Ubiquinone
PubMed: 32020421
DOI: 10.1007/s10456-020-09707-z