Microrna-100 Suppresses Chronic Vascular Inflammation by Stimulation of Endothelial Autophagy
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MicroRNA-100 Suppresses Chronic Vascular Inflammation by Stimulation of Endothelial Autophagy Franziska Pankratz1, Catherine Hohnloser1, Xavier Bemtgen1, Caterina Jaenich1, Sheena Kreuzaler1, Imo Hoefer2, Gerard Pasterkamp2, Justin Mastroianni3, Robert Zeiser3, Christian Smolka1, Laura Schneider1, Julien Martin1, Maike Juschkat1, Thomas Helbing1, Martin Moser1, Christoph Bode1 1 Sebastian Grundmann 1Department of Cardiology and Angiology I, University Heart Center Freiburg, Germany; 2Experimental Cardiology Laboratory, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands, and;3Department of Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Freiburg, Germany. Running title: MiR-100 Suppresses Chronic Vascular Inflammation Downloaded from http://circres.ahajournals.org/ by guest on January 9, 2018 Subject Terms: Atherosclerosis Basic Science Research Inflammation Gene Expression and Regulation Address correspondence to: Dr. Sebastian Grundmann Department of Cardiology and Angiology I Heart Center, University of Freiburg Hugstetter Str. 55 79106 Freiburg Germany Tel: +49 (0) 761 270 70460 Fax: +49 (0) 761 270 70450 [email protected] In November 2017, the average time from submission to first decision for all original research papers submitted to Circulation Research was 11.99 days. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.117.311428 1 ABSTRACT Rationale: The interaction of circulating cells within the vascular wall is a critical event in chronic inflammatory processes such as atherosclerosis, but the control of the vascular inflammatory state is still largely unclear. Objective: This study was undertaken to characterize the function of the endothelial-enriched microRNA miR-100 during vascular inflammation and atherogenesis. Methods and Results: Based on a transcriptome analysis of endothelial cells after miR-100 overexpression, we identified miR-100 as potent suppressor of endothelial adhesion molecule expression, resulting in attenuated leukocyte-endothelial interaction in vitro and in vivo as shown by flow cytometry and intravital imaging approach. Mechanistically, miR-100 directly repressed several components of mTORC1-signalling, including mTOR and raptor, which resulted in a stimulation of endothelial autophagy and attenuated NF-κB signaling in vitro and in vivo. In a LDLR-deficient atherosclerotic mouse model, pharmacologic inhibition of miR-100 resulted in enhanced plaque lesion formation and a higher macrophage content of the plaque, whereas a systemic miR-100 replacement Downloaded from therapy had protective effects and attenuated atherogenesis, resulting in a decrease of plaque area by 45%. Finally, analysis of miR-100 expression in more than 70 samples obtained during carotid endarterectomy revealed that local miR-100 expression was inversely correlated with inflammatory cell content in patients. http://circres.ahajournals.org/ Conclusion: In summary, we describe an anti-inflammatory function of miR-100 in the vascular response to injury and inflammation and identify an important novel modulator of mTOR signaling and autophagy in the vascular system. Our findings of miR-100 as a potential protective "anti-athero-miR" suggest that the therapeutic replacement of this miRNA could be a potential strategy for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis in the future. Keywords: MicroRNA, atherosclerosis, inflammation, endothelium, arteriosclerosis, gene expression/regulation. by guest on January 9, 2018 DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.117.311428 2 Nonstandard Abbreviations and Acronyms: Athero-Express Atherosclerotic plaque expression in relation to vascular events and patient characteristics CD Cluster of differentiation eNOS Endothelial NO synthase HDL High-density lipoprotein HEK Human embryonic kidney cells HFD High fat diet HMGCoA 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A HUVECs Human umbilical vein endothelial cells ICAM-1 Intracellular adhesion molecule 1 IKK IᴋB kinase IL Interleukin Keap-1 Kelch-like ECH associated protein 1 KLF2 Kruepple like factor 2 LDL Low-density lipoprotein Downloaded from LDLR Low-density lipoprotein receptor MCP-1 Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 MIP-1 Macrophage inflammatory protein 1 miRNA microRNA mTOR Mammalian target of rapamycin http://circres.ahajournals.org/ mTORC1 mTOR complex 1 NFᴋB Nuclear factor 'kappa-light-chain-enhancer' of activated B-cells oxLDL Oxidized low-density lipoprotein sICAM-1 Soluble intracellular adhesion molecule 1 SMA Smooth muscle actin by guest on January 9, 2018 INTRODUCTION Inflammation is an important component of the host defense reaction against external pathogens and injury, but can also induce and maintain harmful conditions such as autoimmune diseases, atherosclerosis, in-stent restenosis or ischemia/reperfusion injury. The endothelial cell layer of blood vessels is a critical modulating structure in this process, as circulating immune cells need to attach to the endothelium and migrate into the vessel wall or the perivascular space to exert their function. In fact, the up-regulation of endothelial adhesion molecules due to alterations in fluid shear forces, hypertension or elevated LDL-cholesterol levels is one of the earliest steps in the initiation of atherosclerosis, which is now generally regarded as a chronic inflammatory disease1-3. Many attempts to modulate leukocyte-endothelial interaction to prevent or reduce excessive inflammatory reactions were made in the past. However, the basic regulatory principles of the endothelial inflammatory process remain unclear. It seems that the inhibition of individual components of the inflammatory cascade, e.g. by a single antibody against an adhesion molecule, may not be enough to achieve a sustained effect on vascular inflammation. In the past years, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified as important regulators of gene expression in a wide range of organisms and biological processes. MiRNAs are short (17-24 base pairs), non-coding, single stranded RNA-molecules that are transcribed as precursor molecules and processed to mature miRNAs. MiRNAs regulate the expression of their target genes by translational repression or mRNA degradation. MiRNAs play a key role in cellular proliferation, development and tissue remodeling. Currently, 2603 human and 1920 mouse miRNAs are annotated in the miRBASE 21.0 database, but even more human miRNAs are predicted and their identification and functional characterization is ongoing. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.117.311428 3 Several studies have implicated miRNAs as pivotal players in the regulation of different aspects of vascular biology. Our own group recently used miRNA-transcriptome profiling to screen for miRNAs involved in the regulation of adaptive neovascularization. We identified miR-100 as an endothelial enriched miRNA that attenuates blood vessel growth in response to ischemia following arterial occlusion in mice via repression of the pro-angiogenic and pro-arteriogenic signal transducer mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)4. In the present study we now aimed to explore the regulation and function of this miRNA in endothelial cells. Starting from a global transcriptome analysis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) after miR-100 overexpression, we identified a potent regulatory role of miR-100 in the endothelial inflammatory response to injury. In addition, we demonstrate the modulation of miR-100 levels by pro- and anti-inflammatory stimuli and describe a novel mechanism by which miR-100 exerts strong anti-inflammatory properties in endothelial cells via the augmentation of endothelial autophagy. METHODS Downloaded from The detailed protocols of this study are available from the first author upon request. Transgenic mice are available from the commercial vendors. The microarray data created for this study have been made publicly available at the NCBI gene expression and hybridization array data repository (GEO, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/) and can be accessed under the accession number GSE 20668. http://circres.ahajournals.org/ A more detailed description of material and methods used in the manuscript can be found in the supplement. Cell culture experiments. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were isolated from donated umbilical cords, cultivated and used until passage five. HEK293A cells were cultured in Dulbecco`s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM), Life technologies, Darmstadt, Germany, supplemented with 10 % FBS. For transfection protocols please refer to the online supplement. by guest on January 9, 2018 Autophagy detection kit. HUVECs were sowed in culture slides and miRNA expression levels were modulated. As positive control, cells were treated with 50 μM chloroquine for 24 h to artificially generate autophagosomes. Endothelial autophagy was analyzed by immunofluorescence staining against LC3B positive autophagosomes using the “LC3B antibody kit for autophagy”, Life technologies, Darmstadt, Germany. Following staining, the average number of LC3-II-positive autophagosomes per cell was counted in a randomly chosen imaging field (20 cells/ imaging field). The results of 20 cells were averaged. Animal experiments. C57/BL6J mice were purchased either from Charles River or from the local stock of the animal facility at University Hospital Freiburg, Germany. NF-ᴋB-RE-luc mice (BALB/c-Tg(Rela-luc)31Xen, #10499- M) were purchased from Taconic, Hudson, NY, USA and B6.129S7-Ldlrtm1Her/J (LDLR-/-) mice were obtained from the Jackson Laboratory. Mice were bred in a specific pathogen free animal facility of the University