Endothelial cell proliferation supporting angiogenesis requires sufficient nutrient supply because of facilitated intracellular metabolism. However, little is known about the mechanism for the promotion of nutrient incorporation in proliferating endothelial cells. Here we show that L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) is a major transporter of essential amino acids in human umbilical vein end...

Cigarette smoke extract (CSE) induces apoptosis and inflammation, but the mechanism is unknown. Arginine methyltransferase (PRMT6) catalyzes the asymmetric di-methylation of histone H3 arginine 2 (H3R2me2a) to control global level transcription. We hypothesized that PRMT6 mediates CSE induced apoptosis and inflammation through H3R2me2a. The apoptosis after CSE treatment in human umbilical vein ...

Trans-placental cell trafficking is a naturally occurring process during pregnancy that results in the direct recognition of foreign maternal antigens by fetal tissue and vice versa. Immigration of potentially harmful allo-reactive maternal T cells into fetal circulation may provoke anti-fetal immune responses. However, the contact with fetal tissue may favor differentiation of maternal immune ...

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a lipid mediator which binds to G-protein-coupled receptors and regulates various cellular responses, including inflammation of endothelial cells. Interleukin- (IL-) 1β, a proinflammatory cytokine, is elevated upon LPA treatment in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Previous studies indicated that LPA upregulates vascular endothelial growth factor- (...

Objective: Envenomation by heamotoxic snakes constituted a critical health occurrence in the world. Bleeding is the most sever consequence following snake bite with viperid and crothalid snakes. It is believed that the degradation of vascular membrane caused hemorrhage; in contrast, some suggested that direct cytotoxicity has role in endothelial cell disturbances. This study was to evaluate the...

Extracellular ATP synthesis on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was examined, and it was found that HUVECs possess high ATP synthesis activity on the cell surface. Extracellular ATP generation was detected within 5 s after addition of ADP and inorganic phosphate and reached a maximal level at 15 s. This type of ATP synthesis was almost completely inhibited by mitochondrial H(+)-A...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the intracellular mechanism involved in the anti-apoptotic effect of ghrelin on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). METHODS HUVECs were pretreated with ghrelin before exposure to 200 μg/ml advanced glycation end products (AGEs)-BSA for 48 h. Cell viability and apoptosis were determined by MTT assay and Annexin V/PI staining. Int...

Compound K (CK; 20-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-20(S)-protopanaxadiol), an active ginseng saponin metabolite, exerts anticancer activity via apoptosis induction in various cancers. In the present study, we investigated the anti-angiogenic activity of CK and its molecular mechanisms in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Angiogenesis was induced in HUVECS by basic fibroblast growth facto...

Microcystins (MCs) produced by toxic cyanobacteria cause serious water pollution and public health hazard to humans and animals. However, direct molecular mechanisms of MC-LR in vascular endothelial cells (ECs) have not been understood yet. In this study, we investigated whether MC-LR induces vascular inflammatory process in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Our data dem...

The aim of the present study was to examine the mechanisms through which fenofibrate inhibits the ability of human retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE cells) exposed to hypoxia to stimulate the proliferation and migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). For this purpose, RPE cells and HUVECs were divided into the following groups: RPE-normoxia, RPE + fenofibrate, RPE-hypox...