A phagocyte-type NADPH oxidase complex is a major source of endothelial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, but its biochemical function and regulation remain unclear. In neutrophils, the p47 subunit is centrally involved in oxidase activation in response to agonists such as phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA). We investigated the role of p47 in endothelial cell ROS production in respon...

This study indicates that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) can promote young cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) to migrate via the activation of the BDNF-TrkB-FL-PI3K/Akt pathway, which may benefit angiogenesis after myocardial infarction (MI). However, the ageing of CMECs led to changes in the expression of receptor Trk isoforms in that among the three isoforms (TrkB-FL, T...

BACKGROUND The protection of endothelial cells (ECs) against reperfusion injury has received little attention. In this study, we used Tandem Mass Tag (TMT) labeling proteomics to investigate the modulated proteins in an in vitro model of cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) subjected to ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and their alteration by traditional Chinese medicine Tongxinluo ...

: In contrast to cardiomyocytes, autophagy in cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) during ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury has not been fully investigated. Tongxinluo (TXL), a traditional Chinese medicine, was shown to be vascular protective. We aimed to elucidate the role of autophagy and its regulatory mechanisms by TXL in CMECs subjected to I/R injury. CMECs were exposed to diffe...

Endothelium dysfunction induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is an important initial event at the onset of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion in which the Egr-1 transcription factor often serves as a master switch for various damage pathways following reperfusion injury. We hypothesized that an intracellular ROS/MAPK/Egr-1 signaling pathway is activated in cardiac microvascular endothelial cel...

Velvet antler (VA) is a precious traditional Chinese medicine that is capable of repeated regeneration. Based on the Chinese medicine theory of coordination the heart and kidneys, VA has been employed to treat heart diseases, including ischemic heart disease, heart failure, and arrhythmia. We examined the effects of VA proteins on primary cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) that wer...

This study aimed to investigate the potential roles of sonic Hedgehog (SHH) expression in vasculogenesis in post-myocardial ischemic-reperfusion injury (MIRI) and its underlying mechanism. Cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) isolated from the SD rat hearts tissues were used to construct the MIRI model. mRNA level of SHH in control cells and MIRI cells was detected using RT-PCR analy...

AIMS Our previous studies have shown that N-n-butyl haloperidol iodide (F2) can antagonize myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury by down-regulating the early growth response (Egr)-1 expression, but the molecular mechanisms are not well understood. Because there is evidence implicating myocardial I/R injury is closely associated with endothelial dysfunction. The present study is to test t...

Rapamycin is an immunosuppressive agent that is added to drug eluting stents. It prevents restenosis, but it also impairs reendothelialization. Nicorandil is a hybrid agent with adenosine triphosphated (ATP)-sensitive K+ (KATP) channel opener and nitrate properties. It prevents oxidative stress and cell apoptosis induced by rapamycin in endothelial cells in vitro. However, whether nicorandil pr...

The expression and function of nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs) in rat coronary microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) were examined using RT-PCR and whole cell patch-clamp recording methods. RT-PCR revealed expression of mRNA encoding for the subunits alpha(2), alpha(3), alpha(4), alpha(5), alpha(7), beta(2), and beta(4) but not beta(3). Focal application of ACh evoked an inward current in is...