Transcriptomic Profiling of HRMVPC and HRMEC Co-culture Under Normal and High Glucose Conditions
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE298973 | GEO | 2026/06/04
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Pericytes confer vascular stability in the retina, and the loss of pericytes can cause the blood-retina barrier breakdown seen in diabetic retinopathy. To identify endothelial-specific genes expressed in pericyte-deprived retinal vessels, we purified genetically labeled endothelial cells from Tie2-GFP transgenic mice treated with neutralizing antibody against PDGFRb (APB5) and performed gene expression profiling using DNA microarray. To find out endothelial-specific genes associated with the loss of pericyte coverage, the comparison of microarray data was carried out between retinal endothelial cells (data from GSE27238) and APB5-treated retinal endothelial cells.
2017-01-01 | GSE86819 | GEO
Project description:<p> Pericyte loss is an early and critical event in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR), yet the molecular mechanisms underlying pericyte dysfunction remain incompletely understood. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we generated a retinal cellular overview comprising 18,926 cells from diabetic and non-diabetic mice. We identified a previously unrecognized pericyte subpopulation defined by high expression of pituitary tumor transforming gene 1 (PTTG1), which was enriched in diabetic retina. Functional studies demonstrated that CRISPR/Cas9 or siRNA-mediated silencing of PTTG1 restored pericyte stability and barrier-supporting function under high-glucose stress. In vivo, knockdown of PTTG1 via lentiviral or pericyte-specific AAV delivery improved retinal vascular integrity and reduced retinal vascular function in diabetic mice. Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling revealed PTTG1 knockdown reprogrammed metabolism by modulating glycolytic flux and attenuating oxidative stress. Furthermore, a therapeutic strategy employing spherical nucleic acid-based siPTTG1 nanocarriers (sTDN-siPTTG1) significantly ameliorated retinal vascular dysfunction in DR model. These findings suggest that PTTG1 is a critical regulator of pericyte metabolic homeostasis and microvascular function in DR, highlighting its translational potential as a therapeutic target for diabetic microvascular complications. </p>
2026-03-27 | MTBLS13544 | MetaboLights
Project description:Diabetic retinopathy involves early retinal vascular barrier breakdown and pericyte loss, yet the initiating molecular events remain poorly defined. Vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin), a key regulator of endothelial integrity, is notably reduced in diabetic and prediabetic nucleoside diphosphate kinase B (NDPKB) deficient mouse retinas, particularly in the retinal deep capillary layer, and this decline precedes pericyte loss. In vitro, high glucose (HG) and NDPKB deficiency induced VE-cadherin Y685 phosphorylation, promoting its junctional internalization, activating the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway, and increasing angiopoietin 2 (Ang2), resulting in impaired endothelial barrier function and disrupting pericyte attachment. Preventing Y685 phosphorylation through VE-cadherin Y685F mutation blocked these HG- and NDPKB-driven pathological effects. Pharmacological intervention identified protein O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamin (O-GlcNAc) modification as a mediator of Y685-dependent Ang2 upregulation. In vivo, VE-cadherin Y685F knock-in mice were protected from diabetes- and prediabetes-induced vascular hyperpermeability, exhibited reduced protein O-GlcNAcylation and Ang2 induction, and maintained neuronal function. O-GlcNAc-enriched retinal proteomics further showed that the Y685F mutation restored balanced neurovascular and mitochondrial pathways. These findings highlight the potential of targeting VE-cadherin Y685 phosphorylation as a promising therapeutic approach to maintain retinal vascular integrity and attenuate pathological progression of diabetic and prediabetic retinopathy.
2026-03-07 | PXD072047 | Pride
Project description:RNA-seq was performed on 4-week high glucose (25mM D-glucose) treated human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRMECs) and control (5mM D-glucose) passage-matched cells.
2022-09-20 | GSE199548 | GEO
Project description:The management of preretinal fibrovascular membranes, a devastating complication of advanced diabetic retinopathy (DR), remains challenging. We characterized the molecular profile of cell populations in these fibrovascular membranes to identify new therapeutic targets. Preretinal fibrovascular membranes were surgically removed from patients and submitted for single cell RNA (scRNA) sequencing. Differential gene expression was implemented to define the transcriptomic profile of these cells and revealed the presence of endothelial, inflammatory, and stromal cells. Endothelial cell re-clustering identified subclusters characterized by non-canonical trascriptomic profile, and active angiogenesis. Deeper investigation of the inflammatory cells showed a subcluster of macrophages expressing pro-angiogenic cytokines, presumably contributing to angiogenesis. The stromal cell cluster included a pericyte-myofibroblast transdifferentiating subcluster, indicating the involvement of pericytes in fibrogenesis. Differentially expressed gene analysis showed that Adipocyte Enhancer-binding Protein 1, AEBP1, was significantly upregulated in myofibroblast clusters, suggesting that this molecule may have a potential role in transformation. Cell culture experiments with human retinal pericytes (HRP) in high glucose condition confirmed the molecular transformation of pericytes towards myofibroblastic lineage. siAEBP1 transfection in HRP reduced the expression of profibrotic markers in high glucose. In conclusion, AEBP1 signaling modulates pericyte-myofibroblast transformation, suggesting that targeting AEBP1 could prevent scar tissue formation in advanced DR.
2023-11-02 | GSE245561 | GEO
Project description:Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness in working-age people. Pericyte loss is one of the pathologic cellular events in DR, which weakens the retinal microvessels. Damages to the microvascular networks are irreversible and permanent, thus further progression of DR is inevitable. In this study, we hypothesize that multipotent perivascular progenitor cells derived from human ESCs (hESC-PVPCs) improve the damaged retinal vasculature in the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rodent models. We describe a highly efficient and feasible protocol to derive such cells using a natural selection method without cell sorting processes. As a cellular model of pericytes, hESC-PVPCs exhibited marker expressions such as CD140B, CD146, NG2, and functional characteristics of pericytes. Following a single intravitreal injection into diabetic Brown Norway (BN) rats, we demonstrate that the cells localized alongside typical perivascular regions of the retinal vasculature, and stabilized blood-retinal barrier (BRB) breakdown. Findings in this study highlight a therapeutic potential of hESC-PVPCs in DR by mimicking the role of pericytes in vascular stabilization.
2016-01-22 | GSE77114 | GEO
Project description:Comparative gene expression profiles of human retinal pericytes (HRMPC) and lipoaspirate derived mesenchymal stromal cells (adipose stromal cells, ASC) cultivated either in normal (1g/l) or high (4.5g/l) glucose medium to identify similarities and discrepancies and elucidate high glucose effects considering cell-based therapies in diabetic retinopathy. A hallmark of diabetic retinopathy is pericyte- dropout increased vascular permeability and progressive vascular occlusion. ASC and HRMVPC were cultured in NG or HG for 7 days. Then cells were trypsinized, washed and RNA isolated using Qiagen RNeasy mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). RNA quality was tested by capillary electrophoresis on an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent) and high quality (RNA integrity values ≥ 9) was confirmed.
2020-05-26 | GSE144605 | GEO
Project description:Microvascular dysfunction has been proposed to drive heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), but the initiating molecular and cellular events are largely unknown. Our objective was to determine when microvascular alterations in HFpEF begin, how they contribute to disease progression, and how pericyte dysfunction plays a role herein. We aimed to assess microvascular dysfunction with respect to the development of cardiac dysfunction, in the Zucker fatty and spontaneously hypertensive (ZSF1) obese rat model of HFpEF at three time points: 6, 14, and 21 weeks of age. We found that pericyte loss was the earliest and strongest microvascular change, occurring before prominent echocardiographic signs of diastolic dysfunction were present. Pericytes were shown to be less proliferative and had a disrupted morphology at 14 weeks in the obese ZSF1 animals, who also exhibited an increased capillary luminal diameter and disrupted endothelial junctions. Pericytes exposed to oxidative stress in vitro showed downregulation of cell cycle associated pathways, and induced a pro-inflammatory state in endothelial cells upon co-culture. We propose pericytes are important for maintaining endothelial cell function, where loss of pericytes enhances the reactivity of endothelial cells to inflammatory signals and promotes microvascular dysfunction, thereby accelerating the development of HFpEF.
2023-12-29 | GSE251995 | GEO
Project description:Background: The differentiation of pericytes into myofibroblasts causes microvascular degeneration, extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation, and tissue stiffening, characteristics of fibrotic diseases. It is unclear how pericyte-myofibroblast differentiation is regulated in the microvascular environment. Our previous study established a novel two-dimensional platform for coculturing microvascular endothelial cells (ECs) and pericytes derived from the same tissue. This study investigated how ECM stiffness regulated microvascular ECs, pericytes, and their interactions. Methods: Primary microvessels were cultured in the TGM2D medium. Stiff ECM was prepared by incubating ECM solution in regular culture dishes for one hour followed by PBS wash. Soft ECM with Young’s modulus of approximately 6 kPa was used unless otherwise noted. Bone grafts were prepared from the rat skull. Immunostaining, RNA sequencing, qRT-PCR, western blotting, and knockdown experiments were performed on the cells. Results: Primary microvascular pericytes differentiated into myofibroblasts (NG2+αSMA+) on stiff ECM, even with the TGFβ signaling inhibitor A83-01. Soft ECM and A83-01 cooperatively maintained microvascular stability while inhibiting pericyte-myofibroblast differentiation (NG2+αSMA-/low). We thus defined two pericyte subpopulations: primary (NG2+αSMA-/low) and activated (NG2+αSMA+) pericytes. Soft ECM promoted microvascular regeneration and inhibited fibrosis in bone graft transplantation in vivo. As Integrins are the major mechanosensor, we performed qRT-PCR screening of Integrin family members selected from RNA sequencing data. We found that Integrin β1 (Itgb1) was the major subunit downregulated by soft ECM and A83-01 treatment. Knocking down Itgb1 suppressed myofibroblast differentiation on stiff ECM. Interestingly, ITGB1 phosphorylation (Y783) was mainly located on microvascular ECs on stiff ECM, which promoted EC secretion of paracrine factors, including CTGF, to induce pericyte-myofibroblast differentiation. CTGF knockdown or monoclonal antibody treatment partially reduced myofibroblast differentiation, implying the participation of multiple pathways in fibrosis formation. Conclusions: Microvascular ECs mediate ECM stiffness-induced pericyte-myofibroblast differentiation through paracrine signaling.
2023-07-18 | GSE237069 | GEO
Project description:Retinal pathological angiogenesis (PA) is a common hallmark in proliferative retinopathies, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The mechanisms underlying PA is complex and incompletely understood. Using oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) mouse as a model, the role of extracellular matrix (ECM) protein biglycan (BGN) in PA was studied. Significant upregulation of BGN in the retina of OIR mice and in neovascular proliferative membranes of PDR patients was found. The reduction of BGN expression by Bgn-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) effectively diminished retinal PA in OIR mouse. Subsequent analysis of the mouse OIR retinal single-cell RNA sequencing data from the Gene Expression Omnibus dataset (GSE150703) suggested pericyte as a source of BGN. This was verified using cultured retinal capillary pericytes. BGN expression in pericytes was highly sensitive to hypoxic stimulation. BGN stimulated retinal PA via the upregulation of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12). Inhibition of the CXCL12-CXCR4 axis effectively diminished PA in OIR mouse. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the stimulatory role of BGN in retinal PA, identified the link between BGN and CXCL12 expression, and further highlighted the role of pericytes in retinal PA.
2025-02-10 | GSE259255 | GEO