Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Endothelial expression of ZBTB16 protects against cardiac aging
doi: 10.1101/2025.10.08.681100
Figure Lengend Snippet: ( A ) Bulk RNA sequencing of ZBTB16 knockdown cells and siRNA control cells (n=5). Graph shows log2 fold-change of genes associated with senescence (based on SenMayo (PMID: 35974106)). Genes were significant (Bonferroni adjusted p-value < 0.05). Positive log2 fold-change indicates higher expression in ZBTB16 knockdown cells. Genes were annotated according to their biological function. ( B-D ). Fibroblasts treated 72h with supernatants of HUVEC, which were transfected with siCtrl or siZBTB16 for 72h (n=10). Arrows indicate COL1A1 expression. Quantification is shown in c for COL1A1 (72h) and d for aSMA (48h). ( E-F ) Collagen gel contraction assay at baseline (upper panel) and after 96h (bottom panel) of fibroblast gels treated with supernatants from siCtrl (left) or siZBTB16 (right). Red line indicates gel boundaries. Quantification of relative decrease in gel area is shown in F. ( G-I ) Cardiac tissue mimetics (CTMs) containing primary rat cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts and endothelial cells were treated with supernatants of siCtrl or siZBTB16-transfected HUVEC for 14d. Representative immunohistochemical stainings are shown in G. Quantification of alpha smooth muscle actinin (aSMA) (H) and collagen COL1A1 (I). ( J-L ) siCtrl or siZBTB16-transfected HUVEC were directly co-cultured with neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (n=8) for 96h and stained for DAPI (blue), Phalloidin (green), sarcomeric-actinin (red) and VE-cadherin (magenta). Arrows indicate cardiomyocytes depicted by high sarcomeric actinin content. Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy quantified in panel k, and cardiomyocyte beating frequency is shown in L. ( M-O ) Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were cultured in the supernatant of HUVEC after siCtrl or siZBTB16 transfection. Contraction (peak time) and relaxation (return velocity time, return to baseline 90%) were determined using IonOptix. Single cardiomyocytes were analyzed in the presence and absence of phenylephrine (-PE: n=19 vs. n=22; +PE: n=22 vs. n=23). ( P ) Primary mouse cortical neurons were treated with supernatants of siCtrl or siZBTB16-transfected HUVEC. Quantification is shown in the right panel. ( Q ) Innervation as assessed histologically by TUJ1 (green) normalized to IB4 (red) in hearts of Zbtb16 +/+ and Zbtb16 +/- mice (n=6 vs. n=7). Quantification is shown in the right panel. Data are shown as mean and error bar indicate the standard error of the mean. P-value was calculated by two-tailed Student’s t-test.
Article Snippet: Human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were purchased from PromoCell (C-122203) and cultured in endothelial basal medium (EBM, CC-3121, Lonza) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (10100147, Gibco).
Techniques: RNA Sequencing, Knockdown, Control, Expressing, Transfection, Collagen Gel Contraction Assay, Immunohistochemical staining, Cell Culture, Staining, Two Tailed Test