Elevated PTH induces endothelial to chondrogenic transition in aortic endothelial cells.

Elevated PTH induces endothelial to chondrogenic transition in aortic endothelial cells. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2016 Aug 31;:ajprenal.00210.2016 Authors: Wu M, Zhang JD, Tang RN, Crowley SD, Liu H, Lv LL, Ma KL, Liu BC Abstract Previous studies have shown that increased parathyroid hormone (PTH) due to secondary hyperparathyroidism in chronic kidney disease accelerates the arteriosclerotic fibrosis and calcification. Although the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown, endothelial cells (ECs) have recently been demonstrated to participate in calcification in part by providing chondrogenic cells via the endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether elevated PTH could induce endothelial to chondrogenic transition in aortic ECs and to determine the possible underlying signaling pathway. We found that treatment of ECs with PTH significantly upregulated the expression of EndMT-related markers. Accordingly, ECs treated with PTH exhibited chondrogenic potential. In vivo, a lineage tracing model subjected mice with endothelial-specific GFP fluorescence to chronic PTH infusion showed a marked increase in the aortic expression of chondrocyte markers, and confocal microscopy revealed the endothelial origin of cells expressing chondrocyte markers in the aorta after PTH infusion. Furthermore, this in vitro study showed that PTH enhanced the nuclear localization of β-catenin in ECs, w...
Source: Am J Physiol Renal P... - Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Tags: Am J Physiol Renal Physiol Source Type: research