Pulmonary artery adventitial fibroblasts cooperate with vasa vasorum endothelial cells to regulate vasa vasorum neovascularization: a process mediated by hypoxia and endothelin-1

Am J Pathol. 2006 Jun;168(6):1793-807. doi: 10.2353/ajpath.2006.050754.

Abstract

The precise cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating adventitial vasa vasorum neovascularization, which occurs in the pulmonary arterial circulation in response to hypoxia, remain unknown. Here, using a technique to isolate and culture adventitial fibroblasts (AdvFBs) and vasa vasorum endothelial cells (VVECs) from the adventitia of pulmonary arteries, we report that hypoxia-activated pulmonary artery AdvFBs exhibited pro-angiogenic properties and influenced the angiogenic phenotype of VVEC, in a process of cell-cell communication involving endothelin-1 (ET-1). We demonstrated that AdvFBs, either via co-culture or conditioned media, stimulated VVEC proliferation and augmented the self-assembly and integrity of cord-like networks that formed when VVECs where cultured on Matrigel. In addition, hypoxia-activated AdvFBs produced ET-1, suggesting a paracrine role for this pro-angiogenic molecule in these processes. When co-cultured on Matrigel, AdvFBs and VVECs self-assembled into heterotypic cord-like networks, a process augmented by hypoxia but attenuated by either selective endothelin receptor antagonists or oligonucleotides targeting prepro-ET-1 mRNA. From these observations, we propose that hypoxia-activated AdvFBs exhibit pro-angiogenic properties and, as such, communicate with VVECs, in a process involving ET-1, to regulate vasa vasorum neovascularization occurring in the adventitia of pulmonary arteries in response to chronic hypoxia.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cattle
  • Cell Culture Techniques / methods
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Cells, Cultured / metabolism
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Endothelin-1 / metabolism*
  • Endothelium, Vascular / metabolism*
  • Fibroblasts / pathology*
  • Hypertension / pathology
  • Hypoxia*
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence
  • Pulmonary Artery / metabolism*

Substances

  • Endothelin-1