Thrombomodulin regulates monocye differentiation via PKCδ and ERK1/2 pathway in vitro and in atherosclerotic artery.

Thrombomodulin (TM) modulates the activation of protein C and coagulation. Additionally, TM regulates monocyte migration and inflammation. However, its role on monocyte differentiation is still unknown. We investigated the effects of TM on monocyte differentiation. First, we found that TM was increased when THP-1 cells were treated with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA). Overexpression of TM enhanced the macrophage markers, CD14 and CD68 expression in PMA-induced THP-1. TM siRNA depressed the PMA-induced increase of p21Cip1/WAF1 via ERK1/2-NF-kB p65 signaling. TM regulated cytoskeletal reorganization via its interaction with paxillin, cofilin, LIMK1, and PYK2. In addition, PMA-induced p21Cip1/WAF1 expression, CD14-positive cell labeling intensity and ERK1/2 phosphorylation were markedly inhibited when protein kinase C-δ (PKCδ) was knocked down. We identified that TM directly interacts with PKCδ. PKCδ was highly expressed in human atherosclerotic arteries and colocalized with TM in CD68-positive infiltrated macrophages of plaques, indicating that the coordination between TM and PKCδ in macrophages participated in atherogenesis. TM may act as a scaffold for PKCδ docking, which keeps PKCδ in the region close to the monocyte membrane to promote the activation of ERK1/2. Taken together, our findings suggest that TM-PKCδ interaction may contribute to cardiovascular disorders by affecting monocye differentiation, which may develop future therapeutic applications.

Eotaxin-2 increased toll-like receptor 4 expression in endothelial cells in vitro and exacerbates high-cholesterol diet-induced atherogenesis in vivo.

Eotaxin-2 is a potent chemoattractant. High concentration of eotaxin-2 triggers the inflammation and tumor metastasis. Inhibition of eotaxin-2 may protect experimental atherogenesis although the mechanism is still unclear. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) plays a major role mediating vascular inflammation, which is related to atherogenesis. In the results, we demonstrated that eotaxin-2 potentially impairs the tube formation capacity of human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs). Eotaxin-2 augments the monocytic adhesion in lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced HCAECs, and which were reversed by TLR4 siRNA. Thus this study was conducted to investigate whether eotaxin-2 increases TLR4 expression, and then enhances the sensitivity of cells to antigen stimulation in HCAECs, which mediates the increasing of the development of serious atherosclerosis. In fact, we showed that JNK/SAPK, p38 MAPK, and ERK1/2 activation contribute to the transcriptional signaling pathway, JNK/SAPK and p38 MAPK regulate post-transcriptional modification, as well as protein-trafficking pathway in eotaxin-2-treated HCAECs TLR4 expression. RNA binding proteins, such as human antigen R (HuR) and tristetraprolin (TTP) mediate stability of TLR4 mRNA and chaperone, such as PRAT4A (a protein associated with TLR4) regulate trafficking of TLR4 protein might confer eotaxin-2 responsiveness. Eotaxin-2 administration led to a significant elevation of high cholesterol diet-induced atherosclerosis, and of TLR4 expression in B6.129S7-Ldlrtm1Her /J but not Ldlr-/--/-/Tlr4-/- mice. Our results revealed that eotaxin-2 induced overexpression TLR4 via mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling pathways, RNA binding proteins-mediated mRNA stabilization, and PRAT4A-regulated trafficking in HCAECs. These effects may lead to amplification of inflammatory responses contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disorders.

Internal thoracic artery encircled by an unusual phrenic nerve loop.

We report an anatomic variation of the phrenic nerve. During a routine gross anatomical dissection course at our medical university, we found an unusual loop of the left phrenic nerve around the internal thoracic artery, about 1 cm from the take-off of the left subclavian artery. The phrenic nerve is close to the internal thoracic artery and is easily injured when dissecting the internal thoracic artery for coronary artery bypass conduit. Therefore, we suggest that the anatomic relationship of the phrenic nerve and internal thoracic artery is important in preventing incidental injury of the phrenic nerve.