Donate Help Contact The AHA Sign In Home
American Heart Association
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
Search: search_blue_button Advanced Search
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2008;28:491-497
Published online before print December 27, 2007, doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.107.158642
This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Additional Materials
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
28/3/491    most recent
ATVBAHA.107.158642v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gustin, C.
Right arrow Articles by Raes, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gustin, C.
Right arrow Articles by Raes, M.
(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2008;28:491.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.


Cell Biology/Signaling

Upregulation of Pentraxin-3 in Human Endothelial Cells After Lysophosphatidic Acid Exposure

Cindy Gustin; Edouard Delaive; Marc Dieu; Damien Calay; Martine Raes

From the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Cellular Biology, University of Namur (FUNDP), Belgium.

Correspondence to Cindy Gustin, Department of Biochemistry and Cellular Biology, University of Namur (FUNDP), 61, rue de Bruxelles, 5000 Namur, Belgium. E-mail cindy.gustin{at}fundp.ac.be


*    Abstract
up arrowTop
*Abstract
down arrowIntroduction
down arrowMaterials and Methods
down arrowResults
down arrowDiscussion
down arrowReferences
 
Objective— The earliest event in atherogenesis appears to be endothelium dysfunction. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), one of the major bioactive lipid components of oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL), can cause the activation of endothelial cells (ECs), which start to secrete multiple proinflammatory polypeptides/proteins. The purpose of this study was to better document the proatherogenic properties of LPA using a subproteomic approach focused on the secretome of LPA-treated ECs.

Methods and Results— The secretome of LPA-treated ECs was analyzed using the 2D-DIGE approach. Among the 20 spots displaying significant variations of abundance compared with the control cells, we identified pentraxin-3 by mass spectrometry. Pentraxin-3 upregulation was confirmed at the mRNA and protein level, both on immortalized and primary ECs. LPA- but also oxLDL-induced pentraxin-3 upregulation was reduced in the presence of an antagonist of the LPA-receptors and largely dependent on NF{kappa}B activation. Finally, we demonstrated, for the first time, the chemotactic activity of pentraxin-3 on human THP-1 monocytes by using a chemotaxis assay.

Conclusions— Our findings favor the proatherogenic role of LPA, a bioactive lipid produced by activated platelets and present in oxLDL, because it enhances pentraxin-3 secretion that could contribute to the accumulation of monocytes in the atherosclerotic lesion.

Starting from a 2D-gel analytical approach, we demonstrated a LPA-induced pentraxin-3 overexpression in endothelial cells. LPA- but also oxLDL-induced pentraxin-3 upregulation was reduced in the presence of an antagonist of the LPA-receptors and was largely dependent on NF{kappa}B activation. Finally, we demonstrated the chemotactic activity of pentraxin-3 on monocytes THP-1.


Key Words: lysophosphatidic acid • endothelial cell • atherosclerosis • Pentraxin-3 • chemoattractant


*    Introduction
up arrowTop
up arrowAbstract
*Introduction
down arrowMaterials and Methods
down arrowResults
down arrowDiscussion
down arrowReferences
 
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), such as atherosclerosis, are the most common causes of death in developed countries. Atherosclerosis is a dynamic process that involves inflammation at all stages, from the early to the complex lesions.1 Inflammation is enhanced by all the CVD risk factors identified in epidemiologic studies, and particularly by elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-associated cholesterol.2 Oxidation of LDL is generally considered as one of the key events in atherogenesis, because oxidized LDL (oxLDL) is a major source of various bioactive modified (lyso)phospholipids.3 Among those oxLDL-derived lipids, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) has been identified and largely studied to elucidate its role in atherosclerosis.4

LPA is a normal constituent of serum (2 to 20 µmol/L) and plasma (80 nmol/L to 0.7 µmol/L), with palmitoyl- and oleoyl-LPA being predominant.5,6 LPA was primarily described as a growth factor, but it can provoke a large variety of different biological responses in many cell types (for a review see7). LPA exerts its major biological effects by binding to specific transmembrane G protein–coupled LPA1-5 receptors,8 but LPA also binds with high affinity to the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor {gamma} (PPAR{gamma}).9 Vascular wall and blood cells express several types of LPA receptors, and there are data from many experiments indicating that LPA is a potentially athero- and thrombogenic molecule, because it stimulates platelet aggregation,10 promotes proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs),6 and activates monocytes,11 macrophages,12 as well as vascular endothelial cells (ECs).13 Activated ECs, well known to interact with other cells such as monocytes, macrophages, or platelets, play an important role in the context of atherogenesis by secreting proteins, such as proinflammatory interleukins (interleukin [IL]-1, IL-6) and chemokines (monocyte chemotactic protein-1, IL-8). We therefore investigated the effects of LPA on the proteins secreted by ECs, using the 2D-DIGE approach to analyze the secretome. Significant variations of abundance were observed for 20 spots. One protein, found in 2 spots showing increased abundance, was identified by mass spectrometry and attracted our attention—pentraxin-3.

Pentraxin-3 is a secreted glycoprotein belonging to the pentraxin family of acute-phase proteins, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid P component (SAP).14 Pentraxin-3, also named TSG-14 (tumor necrosis factor [TNF]{alpha}-stimulated gene-14), was originally described as a gene inducible by TNF-{alpha} in human fibroblasts and, soon after, it was also identified as being induced by IL-1β in ECs.15,16 Pentraxin-3 expression is increased in several cell types including fibroblasts,15 ECs,16 chondrocytes,17 monocytes- macrophages,18 stimulated with TNF{alpha}, IL-1β, or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The function currently assigned to pentraxin-3 is to regulate innate immunity at a local level, through its binding to the C1q component.19 The involvement of pentraxin-3 in atherosclerosis remains largely unknown, but a few recent observations suggest a possible role of pentraxin-3 in this context. First, pentraxin-3 is strongly expressed in atherosclerotic lesions compared with normal arteries.20 It has also been reported that pentraxin-3 is induced by oxLDL in VSMCs.21 Finally, Latini et al22 have demonstrated the higher prognostic value of pentraxin-3 in acute myocardial infarction compared with the best-known relevant biological markers. Given the inflammatory nature of atherosclerosis and our results on LPA-induced overexpression of pentraxin-3 in ECs, the data suggest that LPA as well as pentraxin-3 may participate in the early stages of atherosclerosis. The upregulation of pentraxin-3 detected by 2D-DIGE analysis was confirmed by ELISA and Western blot in both immortalized and primary ECs. Pentraxin-3 upregulation was also observed at the transcriptional level, and was largely dependent on NF{kappa}B activation. In addition, LPA- as well as oxLDL-enhanced transcription of pentraxin-3 was reduced in the presence of Ki16425, an antagonist of the LPA-1 and LPA-3 receptors. Finally, we showed that pentraxin-3 has a clear chemotactic activity on human THP-1 monocytes, which favors a proatherogenic role for pentraxin-3.


*    Materials and Methods
up arrowTop
up arrowAbstract
up arrowIntroduction
*Materials and Methods
down arrowResults
down arrowDiscussion
down arrowReferences
 
Please see the supplement data, available online at http://atvb. ahajournals.org for all details.

Cell Culture
The EAhy926 cell line is a hybridoma produced by fusing human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with cells of the epithelial cell line A549. Primary HUVECs were purchased from Clonetics (Cambrex). Human monocytic THP-1 cells were purchased from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC).

Statistical Analysis
Statistical analysis was achieved by the "Sigmastat" software using Student t test and 1- or 2-way ANOVA followed with post-hoc corrections (Holm-Sidak or Tukey test).


*    Results
up arrowTop
up arrowAbstract
up arrowIntroduction
up arrowMaterials and Methods
*Results
down arrowDiscussion
down arrowReferences
 
LPA Induces Pentraxin-3 Secretion in Human Endothelial Cells
Before starting the 2D-DIGE experiments, we had to optimize the LPA concentration. Therefore, we analyzed the effects of LPA over an extended range of concentrations on MCP-1 protein secretion on EAhy926 cells (unpublished data, 2007). These data revealed a concentration-dependent effect of LPA from 1 µmol/L to 50 µmol/L, with a marked effect at 25 µmol/L, followed by a plateau for the higher concentrations tested. Hence, EAhy926 cells were treated with 25 µmol/L LPA during 4 hours and the secretome of the LPA-treated cells (=LPA) was compared with nontreated cells (=CTL), using the 2D-DIGE approach and analyzed with the DeCyder software. Among the 20 spots displaying significant variations in abundance, 2 were identified by mass spectrometry as pentraxin-3 (spots 1 and 2, supplemental Figure I; NCBI entry number=4506333). Both spots showed a significant increase of abundance in LPA-treated cells (P<0.0076 and P<0.0032, respectively) with a 1.54- and 1.51-fold induction, respectively.

To confirm these data, we measured pentraxin-3 released into the supernatant of EAhy926 cells after 4 hours stimulation with LPA at 1, 10, and 25 µmol/L and after 6 and 8 hours incubation with LPA (25 µmol/L) and TNF{alpha} (10 ng/mL). The latter, known to induce pentraxin-3 expression in several cell lines,16,18 was used as positive control. As measured by ELISA, LPA induces a concentration-dependent pentraxin-3 release with a maximal effect at 25 µmol/L after 6 hours (release of about 600 ng/mL pentraxin-3 compared with 200 ng/mL for the untreated cells; Figure 1). TNF{alpha} significantly increases pentraxin-3 secretion reaching a maximum of 800 ng/mL after 8 hours incubation. We further studied pentraxin-3 expression by Western blots on LPA-stimulated EAhy926 and HUVECs. As shown in Figure 2, pentraxin-3 secretion increases after 4 and 6 hours stimulation with 25 µmol/L LPA both in EAhy926 (1.5- to 2.5-fold induction) and HUVECs (1.5- to 2-fold induction). The 2 observed bands probably correspond to the glycosylated (G-PTX3) and nonglycosylated (PTX3) forms of pentraxin-3, considering that the latter has an expected molecular mass of 40 kDa. This is also in agreement with the 2 spots identified as being pentraxin-3 in the 2D-gel analysis. Taken together, these data demonstrate an increased secretion of pentraxin-3 both in immortalized and primary ECs after LPA stimulation.


Figure 1
View larger version (24K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]

 
Figure 1. LPA induces a concentration- and time-dependent secretion of pentraxin-3 in EAhy926 cells. Cells were stimulated during the times indicated with LPA and TNF{alpha}. The supernatants were collected and secreted pentraxin-3 was assayed by ELISA. ***P<0.001 vs corresponding CTL.


Figure 2
View larger version (27K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]

 
Figure 2. LPA induces a concentration-dependent secretion of pentraxin-3 in ECs. Cells were stimulated during the indicated times with LPA. One immunoblot with the corresponding quantitative analysis representative of 3 independent experiments is shown. ***P<0.001; **P<0.01 vs negative control.

Kinetics and Concentration-Dependent Effect of LPA-Induced Pentraxin-3 Expression
We further investigated whether the LPA-induced pentraxin-3 overexpression was also controlled at the mRNA level by using real-time RT-PCR. For both EC models, kinetics of LPA (25 µmol/L) stimulation were performed. As shown in Figure 3, we observed a rapid increase in the abundance of pentraxin-3 mRNA, normalized to GAPDH mRNA, which peaked at 2 hours (±240%) for the EAhy926 cells (Figure 3A) and at 3 hours (±220%), for the HUVECs (Figure 3B), followed by a second wave of induction for both cell types.


Figure 3
View larger version (17K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]

 
Figure 3. LPA induces pentraxin-3 mRNA expression in EAhy926 (A) and HUVECs (B). Cells were stimulated with LPA during the indicated times, and real-time RT-PCR was performed with specific primers for human pentraxin-3 and GAPDH, chosen as housekeeping gene. ***P<0.001; *P<0.05 vs corresponding negative control.

The effect of LPA on pentraxin-3 mRNA expression observed in both EC models at lower LPA concentrations (1 µmol/L and 10 µmol/L), was concentration-dependent with a significant effect already observed with 1 µmol/L LPA (supplemental Figure II).

LPA Is One of the Major Bioactive Phospholipids in oxLDL Inducing Pentraxin-3 Overexpression
Because LPA accumulates during LDL oxidation, EAhy926 cells were treated for 2 hours with different concentrations of oxLDL (from 50 to 200 µg/mL) and pentraxin-3 gene expression was monitored by real-time RT-PCR. As shown in Figure 4A, oxLDL induces a concentration-dependent increase of pentraxin-3 expression with approximately a 2.5-fold induction (with 200 µg/mL), almost comparable to the one observed in the presence of LPA (Figure 3A). Moreover, a preincubation with 10 µmol/L Ki16425 (Ki), a specific antagonist of LPA-1 and LPA-3 receptors,23 before the incubation with oxLDL (200 µg/mL) for 2 hours, markedly diminished this overexpression to levels that are not significantly different compared with the negative control (Figure 4B). Native LDL (LDL) (Figure 4B) and Ki16425 alone were ineffective (data not shown). To check whether LPA was the major bioactive lipid responsible for this response, we tested 2 other lipids present within oxLDL, sphingosine-1–phosphate (S1P) and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC). EAhy926 cells were incubated during 2, 4, 6, and 8 hours with these lipids. After real-time RT-PCR analysis, no overexpression was observed at any time or at any of the concentrations used (1 µmol/L and 20 µmol/L), as represented in Figure 4B for cells stimulated during 2 hours with 1 µmol/L S1P or LPC. We also combined S1P and LPA treatments, but S1P was unable to affect the magnitude of pentraxin-3 upregulation induced by LPA (data not shown). All together, these data demonstrate that oxLDL induces pentraxin-3 expression through LPA-1 and LPA-3 receptors in EAhy926 cells.


Figure 4
View larger version (19K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]

 
Figure 4. OxLDL induces pentraxin-3 upregulation. Cells were treated with different concentration of oxLDL (A), or with S1P, LPC, or oxLDL (B), in the presence or not of Ki16425. ***P<0.001; **P<0.01 vs negative control. NS indicates nonsignificant. (CTL S1P, CTL LPC=cells treated with DMSO or ethanol).

Regulation of Pentraxin-3 Expression in LPA-Stimulated EAhy926 Cells
First, we highlighted the LPA-induced NF{kappa}B transactivating activity by using a specific luciferase reporter plasmid (supplemental Figure IIIA). Then, using a colorimetric assay,24 we observed a significant increase in the DNA binding activity of NF{kappa}B (using an anti-p65 antibody) after LPA (25 µmol/L) treatment during 45 minutes (supplemental Figure IIIB). However, this increase in DNA binding activity was markedly inhibited in the presence of 10 µmol/L Ki16425 (79% inhibition) and of 500 nmol/L evodiamine (90% inhibition), a recently described NF{kappa}B inhibitor. Interestingly, evodiamine (EVO) by itself inhibits the constitutive DNA binding activity of NF{kappa}B, as mentioned by Takada et al25 on myeloma cells. Finally, we tested these inhibitors on the LPA-induced pentraxin-3 upregulation by real-time PCR. As shown in supplemental Figure IIIC, the increase in the abundance of pentraxin-3 mRNA induced by 25 µmol/L LPA (after 2 hours stimulation) was inhibited by approximately 77% and 68% after preincubation with Ki16425 (10 µmol/L) and evodiamine (500 nmol/L), respectively. We also demonstrated that palmitoyl-LPA (a LPA isoform with a saturated fatty acyl chain unable to activate LPA-3 receptor) induces a dose-dependent effect on pentraxin-3 mRNA expression with inductions similar to the ones obtained with oleoyl-LPA (supplemental Figure IV). This increase in pentraxin-3 expression was inhibited by approximately 80% to 100%, after preincubation with Ki16425. All together, these data suggest that LPA-1 receptor is mainly involved in the LPA-induced pentraxin-3 overexpression. Ki16425, but also evodiamine alone, had no effect on the abundance of pentraxin-3 mRNA (data not shown). Experiments performed with BAY 11-7082 (another well-described NF{kappa}B inhibitor), despite a higher cytotoxicity of BAY 11-7082 compared with evodiamine, confirmed the involvement of NF{kappa}B.

Pentraxin-3 Induces the Transmigration of Monocytes In Vitro
Because the functions of pentraxin-3 are not yet completely defined, we wondered whether pentraxin-3 could be chemotactic for monocytes. To test this hypothesis, we used recombinant human pentraxin-3 (rhPentraxin-3) at concentrations ranging from 200 ng/mL to 800 ng/mL, which is comparable to the concentrations of pentraxin-3 achieved in the supernatants of ECs after LPA stimulation (Figure 1). As shown in Figure 5A, rhPentraxin-3 used in a modified Boyden’s chamber for 4 hours induces a significant monocyte transmigration with a weak concentration-dependent effect. We then evaluated the supernatants of LPA (1 µmol/L)-treated cells (4 hours) using the same assay and as shown in Figure 5B, we clearly demonstrate an effect of these supernatants on monocyte transmigration (LPA compared with CTL). This effect is even more pronounced than with rhPentraxin-3 probably because of the presence of additional chemotactic factors such as MCP-1 and IL-8 (unpublished data, 2007). Moreover, as demonstrated in supplemental Figure V, by adapting the assay, we could exclude that residual LPA present in the supernatant of conditioned media (CM) was required. We thus went on to evaluate the role of secreted pentraxin-3 in this chemotactic activity by abrogating pentraxin-3 expression with specific double-stranded siRNA (small interfering RNA). Using an ELISA, we showed that anti–pentraxin-3 siRNA attenuated pentraxin-3 expression by 80% (at the protein level) after 24 hours transfection (supplemental Figure VI). So, CM of EAhy926 cells stimulated with LPA (1 µmol/L) and transfected or not for 24 hours with siRNA against pentraxin-3 were tested on the THP-1 transmigration. First, CM from LPA-treated cells transfected with anti–pentraxin-3 siRNA (LPA+siRNA) displayed a significantly lower chemotactic activity (Figure 5B). Moreover, this inhibition was counteracted when 300 ng/mL of exogenous rhPentraxin-3 (concentration achieved in the supernatant of ECs after LPA treatment) were added (LPA+siRNA+rhPTX3) during the transmigration assay. Secondly, we also observed a significant effect of pentraxin-3 silencing in control cells (CTL+siRNA; Figure 5B). This is not surprising because nonstimulated EAhy926 cells secrete detectable amounts of pentraxin-3 (Figure 1), sufficient to almost double THP-1 chemotaxis (Figure 5A). CM of cells stimulated or not with LPA and treated with control siRNA did not alter monocyte migration (CTL and LPA RF).


Figure 5
View larger version (23K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]

 
Figure 5. Effect of pentraxin-3 on monocyte transmigration. A, rhPentraxin-3 was tested on monocyte transmigration. B, CM from cells treated (or not) with LPA in the presence (or not) of anti–pentraxin-3 or control siRNA were tested on the THP-1 migration. Results are expressed as described in Materials. ***P<0.001; *P<0.05 vs CTL.

These data point out for the first time a new function of pentraxin-3 as a chemoattractant for monocytes.


*    Discussion
up arrowTop
up arrowAbstract
up arrowIntroduction
up arrowMaterials and Methods
up arrowResults
*Discussion
down arrowReferences
 
The endothelium plays a major role in atherosclerosis given its function as secretory tissue, releasing several bioactive molecules.26 Therefore, analyzing the secretome of activated ECs should further contribute to a better understanding of the role of these cells in the initiation of atherogenesis. To activate ECs, we chose LPA, a bioactive lipid present within oxLDL and well known because sometime as a growth factor,27 but still a controversial molecule in the context of atherosclerosis, considered as either pro- or antiatherogenic.28

We demonstrated, by a subproteomic approach, that LPA clearly modulates the secretome of EAhy926 cells and significantly increases the abundance of pentraxin-3.

The 2D-gel data on pentraxin-3 were confirmed by ELISA and Western blot analysis on EAhy926 cells. Although the EAhy926 cell line is now considered as a well characterized vascular EC line,29 displaying various characteristics typical of human ECs,30,31 we confirmed the LPA-induced pentraxin-3 overexpression in HUVECs. We next performed a time-course analysis of pentraxin-3 mRNA expression. In both EC models, the abundance of pentraxin-3 transcripts rapidly increases, with a first peak at 2 hours and 3 hours, for the EAhy926 and HUVECs, respectively, followed by a second wave of induction. These pentraxin-3 protein and mRNA patterns of expression are comparable to those described in the literature with proinflammatory agents. For example, Alles et al18 demonstrated that LPS induces a peak of pentraxin-3 mRNA expression between 4 hours and 8 hours in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. They also showed that the regulation of pentraxin-3 expression requires an active protein synthesis in monocytes, which supposes the production of "intermediate proteins" not yet identified. We could propose a similar hypothesis in the induction of the second wave of pentraxin-3 expression after LPA treatment. Indeed, Lin et al32 have demonstrated that the induction of MCP-1 and IL-8 by LPA after 12 hours is regulated by IL-1, produced by the HUVECs in response to the primary stimulus (LPA). Therefore, based on our data obtained by the 2D-DIGE analysis, the "intermediate protein" could be one of the proteins overexpressed after LPA treatment, but not yet identified, because of the very limited amounts of material available for mass spectrometric analysis. Interestingly, the levels of induction of pentraxin-3 secretion induced by LPA and TNF{alpha} are very similar. So, our data suggests that LPA may act as a true proinflammatory molecule. Secondly, we confirmed that LPA is able to modulate pentraxin-3 expression at concentrations as low as 1 µmol/L to 10 µmol/L, on both EC models. These concentrations might seem extremely high as nanomolar concentrations of LPA are sufficient to activate the LPA membrane receptors LPA1-5.8 But, as described in the literature, micromolar concentrations of LPA are required to induce DNA synthesis in cultured cells, and more specifically to induce transcriptional effects.33,34 Moreover, micromolar concentrations of LPA are not at all uncommon in vivo. LPA is known to be present in serum in concentrations of up to 2 to 20 µmol/L6 and is present in atherosclerotic lesions in concentrations 13 fold higher compared with normal arteries,4 although the absolute concentrations are not known. One might speculate that during the onset of inflammatory reactions, recruitment of LPA-producing cells such as monocytes-macrophages and ECs and multiplication of other potential sources for LPA production (activated platelets, higher concentrations of oxLDL, secretion of lyso-phospholipase D... ), could contribute to the delivery of high levels of LPA in a localized environment. Moreover, we demonstrated that oxLDL enhances pentraxin-3 expression through the activation of LPA-1 or LPA-3 receptors. To further study the specificity of the LPA-induced pentraxin-3, we also tested other bioactive lipids present within oxLDL, such as S1P and LPC, but they were unable to modulate pentraxin-3 gene expression. S1P has also be claimed to be able to counteract LPA, for instance, in human platelets.35 Combined with LPA, S1P (preincubated or together with LPA) was unable to affect the magnitude of pentraxin-3 upregulation induced by LPA (data not shown). We next started a preliminary study to unravel some of the mechanisms involved in the regulation of pentraxin-3, using a inhibitor of NF{kappa}B (evodiamine) and an antagonist of LPA-receptors (Ki16425). We showed that LPA is able to induce pentraxin-3 through a mechanism involving mainly the LPA-1 receptor (because similar effects were obtained with both palmitoy- and oleoyl-LPA), as well as NF{kappa}B activation, that is in agreement with the identification of 2 {kappa}B elements in the promoter of the human pentraxin-3 gene.36

Finally, we investigated what could be the pathophysiological significance of pentraxin-3 secretion by ECs. Previous studies have suggested that CRP may favor the monocyte chemotactic response to MCP-1.37 We thus wanted to look for a possible chemotactic activity of pentraxin-3 on monocytes, an activity not assigned up to now to pentraxin-3. Using an in vitro chemotaxis assay, we demonstrated for the first time that rhPentraxin-3 (200 to 800 ng/mL) was able to induce a significant and concentration-dependent chemotaxis of THP-1 monocytes. We next abrogated pentraxin-3 gene expression by using siRNA. Anti–pentraxin-3 siRNA reduces the chemotactic activity of the supernatants of LPA-treated cells, but this activity was recovered when using the same CM supplemented with 300 ng/mL of rhPentraxin-3. The effect of anti–pentraxin-3 siRNA on monocyte migration was only partial (about 30% inhibition), probably because the expression of pentraxin-3 was not completely abrogated. Parenthetically, LPA induces other chemotactic agents such as MCP-1 and IL-8 (unpublished data, 2007).

In this manuscript, we show for the first time that LPA enhances pentraxin-3 expression at the mRNA as well as the protein level, in immortalized and primary ECs. Interestingly, LPA by so doing, is able to mimic oxLDL, on the contrary to S1P and LPC. We showed that this LPA-induced pentraxin-3 upregulation was reduced in the presence of an antagonist of LPA-1 and LPA-3 and was largely dependent on NF{kappa}B activation. Finally, our findings suggest, at least in vitro, a chemotactic effect of pentraxin-3, which strengthens the proatherogenic role of LPA contributing to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, through the secretion of pentraxin-3. Consequently, our results suggest that pentraxin-3 and LPA may be new relevant therapeutic targets to consider for the treatment of inflammatory vascular lesions.


*    Acknowledgments
 
We thank Doctor Karim Zouaoui Boudjeltia from the Experimental Medicine Laboratory (ULB-U222, CHU-Charleroi, Belgium) for providing the LDL and John Burns for editorial assistance.

Sources of Funding

This manuscript presents research results of the Belgian Programme on Interuniversity Poles of Attraction (PAI 6/30) initiated by the Belgian State, Prime Minister’s Office, Science Policy Programming. Cindy Gustin is a recipient of the FRIA (Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l’Industrie et dans l’Agriculture) doctoral fellowship. We thank the Fonds de la Recherche Fondamentale Collective and the Facultés Universitaires Notre Dame de la Paix for financial support.

Disclosures

None.


*    Footnotes
 
Original received September 3, 2007; final version accepted December 13, 2007.


*    References
up arrowTop
up arrowAbstract
up arrowIntroduction
up arrowMaterials and Methods
up arrowResults
up arrowDiscussion
*References
 
1. Hansson GK. Regulation of immune mechanisms in atherosclerosis. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2001; 947: 157–165;discussion 165–156.

2. Libby P. Current concepts of the pathogenesis of the acute coronary syndromes. Circulation. 2001; 104: 365–372.[Free Full Text]

3. Berliner JA, Subbanagounder G, Leitinger N, Watson AD, Vora D. Evidence for a role of phospholipid oxidation products in atherogenesis. Trends Cardiovasc Med. 2001; 11: 142–147.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

4. Siess W, Zangl KJ, Essler M, Bauer M, Brandl R, Corrinth C, Bittman R, Tigyi G, Aepfelbacher M. Lysophosphatidic acid mediates the rapid activation of platelets and endothelial cells by mildly oxidized low density lipoprotein and accumulates in human atherosclerotic lesions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999; 96: 6931–6936.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

5. Eichholtz T, Jalink K, Fahrenfort I, Moolenaar WH. The bioactive phospholipid lysophosphatidic acid is released from activated platelets. Biochem J. 1993; 291 (Pt 3): 677–680.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

6. Tokumura A, Iimori M, Nishioka Y, Kitahara M, Sakashita M, Tanaka S. Lysophosphatidic acids induce proliferation of cultured vascular smooth muscle cells from rat aorta. Am J Physiol. 1994; 267: C204–C210.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

7. Moolenaar WH. Development of our current understanding of bioactive lysophospholipids. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2000; 905: 1–10.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

8. Meyer zu Heringdorf D, Jakobs KH. Lysophospholipid receptors: signalling, pharmacology and regulation by lysophospholipid metabolism. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2007; 1768: 923–940.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

9. McIntyre TM, Pontsler AV, Silva AR, St Hilaire A, Xu Y, Hinshaw JC, Zimmerman GA, Hama K, Aoki J, Arai H, Prestwich GD. Identification of an intracellular receptor for lysophosphatidic acid (LPA): LPA is a transcellular PPARgamma agonist. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003; 100: 131–136.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

10. Gerrard JM, Kindom SE, Peterson DA, Peller J, Krantz KE, White JG. Lysophosphatidic acids. Influence on platelet aggregation and intracellular calcium flux. Am J Pathol. 1979; 96: 423–438.[Abstract]

11. Zhou D, Luini W, Bernasconi S, Diomede L, Salmona M, Mantovani A, Sozzani S. Phosphatidic acid and lysophosphatidic acid induce haptotactic migration of human monocytes. J Biol Chem. 1995; 270: 25549–25556.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

12. Koh JS, Lieberthal W, Heydrick S, Levine JS. Lysophosphatidic acid is a major serum noncytokine survival factor for murine macrophages which acts via the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathway. J Clin Invest. 1998; 102: 716–727.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

13. Rizza C, Leitinger N, Yue J, Fischer DJ, Wang DA, Shih PT, Lee H, Tigyi G, Berliner JA. Lysophosphatidic acid as a regulator of endothelial/leukocyte interaction. Lab Invest. 1999; 79: 1227–1235.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

14. Lee GW, Lee TH, Vilcek J. TSG-14, a tumor necrosis factor- and IL-1-inducible protein, is a novel member of the pentaxin family of acute phase proteins. J Immunol. 1993; 150: 1804–1812.[Abstract]

15. Lee TH, Lee GW, Ziff EB, Vilcek J. Isolation and characterization of eight tumor necrosis factor-induced gene sequences from human fibroblasts. Mol Cell Biol. 1990; 10: 1982–1988.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

16. Breviario F, d’Aniello EM, Golay J, Peri G, Bottazzi B, Bairoch A, Saccone S, Marzella R, Predazzi V, Rocchi M, et al. Interleukin-1-inducible genes in endothelial cells. Cloning of a new gene related to C-reactive protein and serum amyloid P component. J Biol Chem. 1992; 267: 22190–22197.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

17. Luchetti MM, Piccinini G, Mantovani A, Peri G, Matteucci C, Pomponio G, Fratini M, Fraticelli P, Sambo P, Di Loreto C, Doni A, Introna M, Gabrielli A. Expression and production of the long pentraxin PTX3 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Clin Exp Immunol. 2000; 119: 196–202.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

18. Alles VV, Bottazzi B, Peri G, Golay J, Introna M, Mantovani A. Inducible expression of PTX3, a new member of the pentraxin family, in human mononuclear phagocytes. Blood. 1994; 84: 3483–3493.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

19. Bottazzi B, Vouret-Craviari V, Bastone A, De Gioia L, Matteucci C, Peri G, Spreafico F, Pausa M, D’Ettorre C, Gianazza E, Tagliabue A, Salmona M, Tedesco F, Introna M, Mantovani A. Multimer formation and ligand recognition by the long pentraxin PTX3. Similarities and differences with the short pentraxins C-reactive protein and serum amyloid P component. J Biol Chem. 1997; 272: 32817–32823.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

20. Rolph MS, Zimmer S, Bottazzi B, Garlanda C, Mantovani A, Hansson GK. Production of the long pentraxin PTX3 in advanced atherosclerotic plaques. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2002; 22: e10–e14.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

21. Klouche M, Peri G, Knabbe C, Eckstein HH, Schmid FX, Schmitz G, Mantovani A. Modified atherogenic lipoproteins induce expression of pentraxin-3 by human vascular smooth muscle cells. Atherosclerosis. 2004; 175: 221–228.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

22. Latini R, Maggioni AP, Peri G, Gonzini L, Lucci D, Mocarelli P, Vago L, Pasqualini F, Signorini S, Soldateschi D, Tarli L, Schweiger C, Fresco C, Cecere R, Tognoni G, Mantovani A. Prognostic significance of the long pentraxin PTX3 in acute myocardial infarction. Circulation. 2004; 110: 2349–2354.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

23. Ohta H, Sato K, Murata N, Damirin A, Malchinkhuu E, Kon J, Kimura T, Tobo M, Yamazaki Y, Watanabe T, Yagi M, Sato M, Suzuki R, Murooka H, Sakai T, Nishitoba T, Im DS, Nochi H, Tamoto K, Tomura H, Okajima F. Ki16425, a subtype-selective antagonist for EDG-family lysophosphatidic acid receptors. Mol Pharmacol. 2003; 64: 994–1005.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

24. Renard P, Ernest I, Houbion A, Art M, Le Calvez H, Raes M, Remacle J. Development of a sensitive multi-well colorimetric assay for active NFkappaB. Nucleic Acids Res. 2001; 29: e21.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

25. Takada Y, Kobayashi Y, Aggarwal BB. Evodiamine abolishes constitutive and inducible NF-kappaB activation by inhibiting IkappaBalpha kinase activation, thereby suppressing NF-kappaB-regulated antiapoptotic and metastatic gene expression, up-regulating apoptosis, and inhibiting invasion. J Biol Chem. 2005; 280: 17203–17212.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

26. Simionescu M. Implications of early structural-functional changes in the endothelium for vascular disease. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2007; 27: 266–274.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

27. Moolenaar WH, Kruijer W, Tilly BC, Verlaan I, Bierman AJ, de Laat SW. Growth factor-like action of phosphatidic acid. Nature. 1986; 323: 171–173.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

28. Siess W. Athero- and thrombogenic actions of lysophosphatidic acid and sphingosine-1-phosphate. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2002; 1582: 204–215.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

29. Bouis D, Hospers GA, Meijer C, Molema G, Mulder NH. Endothelium in vitro: a review of human vascular endothelial cell lines for blood vessel-related research. Angiogenesis. 2001; 4: 91–102.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

30. Suggs JE, Madden MC, Friedman M, Edgell CJ. Prostacyclin expression by a continuous human cell line derived from vascular endothelium. Blood. 1986; 68: 825–829.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

31. Edgell CJ, McDonald CC, Graham JB. Permanent cell line expressing human factor VIII-related antigen established by hybridization. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983; 80: 3734–3737.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

32. Lin CI, Chen CN, Chen JH, Lee H. Lysophospholipids increase IL-8 and MCP-1 expressions in human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells through an IL-1-dependent mechanism. J Cell Biochem. 2006; 99: 1216–1232.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

33. Cook SJ, McCormick F. Kinetic and biochemical correlation between sustained p44ERK1 (44 kDa extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1) activation and lysophosphatidic acid-stimulated DNA synthesis in Rat-1 cells. Biochem J. 1996; 320 (Pt 1): 237–245.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

34. Cook SJ, Aziz N, McMahon M. The repertoire of fos and jun proteins expressed during the G1 phase of the cell cycle is determined by the duration of mitogen-activated protein kinase activation. Mol Cell Biol. 1999; 19: 330–341.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

35. Motohashi K, Shibata S, Ozaki Y, Yatomi Y, Igarashi Y. Identification of lysophospholipid receptors in human platelets: the relation of two agonists, lysophosphatidic acid and sphingosine 1-phosphate. FEBS Lett. 2000; 468: 189–193.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

36. Basile A, Sica A, d’Aniello E, Breviario F, Garrido G, Castellano M, Mantovani A, Introna M. Characterization of the promoter for the human long pentraxin PTX3. Role of NF-kappaB in tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1beta regulation. J Biol Chem. 1997; 272: 8172–8178.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

37. Han KH, Hong KH, Park JH, Ko J, Kang DH, Choi KJ, Hong MK, Park SW, Park SJ. C-reactive protein promotes monocyte chemoattractant protein-1–mediated chemotaxis through upregulating CC chemokine receptor 2 expression in human monocytes. Circulation. 2004; 109: 2566–2571.[Abstract/Free Full Text]




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Eur J Heart FailHome page
S. Heymans, E. Hirsch, S. D. Anker, P. Aukrust, J.-L. Balligand, J. W. Cohen-Tervaert, H. Drexler, G. Filippatos, S. B. Felix, L. Gullestad, et al.
Inflammation as a therapeutic target in heart failure? A scientific statement from the Translational Research Committee of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology
Eur J Heart Fail, February 1, 2009; 11(2): 119 - 129.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Am. J. Physiol. Cell Physiol.Home page
C. Gustin, M. Van Steenbrugge, and M. Raes
LPA modulates monocyte migration directly and via LPA-stimulated endothelial cells
Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, October 1, 2008; 295(4): C905 - C914.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Additional Materials
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
28/3/491    most recent
ATVBAHA.107.158642v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gustin, C.
Right arrow Articles by Raes, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gustin, C.
Right arrow Articles by Raes, M.