BC2M participation in the SFD
March 21-24, 2024, at the Montpellier Exhibition Center
With Anne Dominique LAJOIX, member of the scientific committee
and Mohammed MIMOUNI, giving an oral presentation, summarized as follows:
Metabolic syndrome, which combines insulin resistance and high blood pressure, causes early remodeling of the myocardium, particularly the extracellular matrix, leading to interstitial fibrosis. Our team has previously demonstrated in an animal model of metabolic syndrome that a low-salt diet can prevent these cardiac lesions. A transcriptomic study identified several genes modulated by sodium restriction. To better understand the role of these genes, we established two in vitro models of endothelial-mesenchymal transition, reproducing early myocardial remodeling from primary human endothelial cells. Materials and Methods Primary human aortic endothelial cells (HAEC) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were treated at different times with TGF-β2 (10ng/ml). The expression of endothelial and mesenchymal markers, as well as various genes, was detected by q-PCR, Western blot, and immunofluorescence. Results In both cell types, TGF-β2 significantly increased the expression of the mesenchymal markers SM22-α, Snail, and Slug, with an increase in Smad2/3 phosphorylation. Collagen expression was observed only in HAECs, reflecting earlier transdifferentiation. The expression of the endothelial markers Pecam-1 and VE-Cadherin appears unchanged in both cases. In immunofluorescence, both cell types co-express Pecam-1 and SM22-α, indicating their transdifferentiation into fibroblast cells. In these two models, several genes are overexpressed during transdifferentiation, such as latrophilin-1, which is involved in cell adhesion, and fibulin-5, an extracellular matrix protein, confirming the results observed in our animal model. Conclusion We have established two cellular models of endothelial-mesenchymal transition that can be used to study early myocardial remodeling in metabolic syndrome.
Link to the SFD website here.
