This month’s featured article is from the labs of Hong-tao Wang and Da-hai Hu of Fourth Military Medical University in Xi’an, China. The article about human endothelial cell research was published 28 April 2016 in the journal Scientific Reports. This study investigates the cell signaling events underlying angiogenesis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The study aimed to connect some previously identified players in angiogenesis (namely miR-146a, FGF2, and CREB3L1) into a cogent signaling axis.
The authors over-expressed miR-146a in HUVECs using a lentiviral expression system. Gene expression profiling of these cells connected miR-146a with FGF2 and angiogenesis. For their profiling experiments, the authors used Phalanx Biotech’s Human OneArray Whole Genome Microarray. The microarray results for FGF2 are included in the heatmap above outlined by the orange rectangle. Lists of differentially expressed genes were subjected to gene set and pathway enrichment analysis (these analyses are included in our standard OneArray Microarray Service package – read more HERE and HERE). The enrichment results are shown above and clearly point to processes involved in angiogenesis.
Next, the authors showed that FGFBP1 and FGF2 signaling events are involved in the promotion of HUVEC proliferation, tube formation, and migration.
Overall, this study clearly demonstrates the role of the miR-146a-CREB3L1-FGFBP1 signaling pathway in the regulation of angiogenesis. Given these results, the authors propose future therapies that target this signaling pathway to inhibit angiogenesis.
Reference
Zhu HY et al. Up-regulation of FGFBP1 signaling contributes to miR-146a-induced angiogenesis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (2016). Scientific Reports 6: 25272.