Endothelial HUVEC cells used as an in vitro model of the endothelial monolayer in placental barrier were activated by TNFα in a dose of 2 ng/ml for 24 h. Significant changes in the expression of genes of the SLC family transport protein were observed: an increase in the expression of SLC7A2, SLC12A2, SLC9B2, SLC25A37, SLC16A9, and SLC41A2 and a decrease in the expression of SLC40A1. These transporters participate in the transport of iron, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and chloride ions, protons, and amino acids. It was also found that SLC7A2, SLC12A2, SLC9B2, SLC25A37, and SLC41A2 genes have binding sites for transcriptional factor RelB that together with NFKB2 is the main effector of the non-canonical NF-κB pathway. The expression of RELB and NFKB2 genes was also significantly enhanced in TNFα-activated HUVEC cells, which can attest to the important role of the non-canonical NF-κB pathway in the regulation of gene expression of transport proteins in response to TNFα stimulation.
Keywords: HUVEC; NF-κB; TNFα; inflammation; transporters.