Journal: Nature Communications
Article Title: Reduced FOXF1 links unrepaired DNA damage to pulmonary arterial hypertension
doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43039-y
Figure Lengend Snippet: a FOXF1 immunohistochemistry of pulmonary artery (PA) in EC- Bmpr2 -/- mice under normoxia (Normo) or reoxygenation (Reoxy). FOXF1 intensity quantified in 5 vessels/mouse ( n = 6 mice/group), Scale bar, 20 µm. b Representative images of an occlusive PAH lesion and a normal donor PA, with quantification of FOXF1 intensity in PAEC (von Willebrand factor (vWF)-positive cells), in PAH BMPR2 MUT, PAH-non BMPR2 MUT and healthy donors ( n = 4/group). αSMA indicates smooth muscle cells. Scale bar, 50 µm. Bottom panels show magnified merged image of the area delineated by the dotted line. Scale bars, 10 μm. Five arteries analyzed in each patient with n = 96, 114, 109 cells for Donor, PAH-BMPR2 MUT and PAH-not MPR2 MUT , respectively. c – e Angiogenesis and DNA damage following reduced FOXF1 : Commercially available human PAEC treated with siRNA targeting FOXF1 (si FOXF1) vs. control siRNA (siCon). c mRNA levels. n = 3 replicates. d Representative images of tube formation assay, with quantitative analysis 3 h after seeding. n = 5 replicates. Scale bar, 200 µm. e Wound closure (scratch) assay by cell migration. Representative images at 0 and 12 h, and quantified ratio of the area of the scratch in si FOXF1 relative to siCon at 12 h. n = 5 replicates. Scale bar, 450 µm. f – i Angiogenesis and DNA damage after restoration of FOXF1 expression. PAH PAEC transfected with lentivirus vector carrying the FOXF1 gene or GFP as control. f mRNA of angiogenesis and DNA damage response genes ( n = 3 replicates) in cells of PAH patients PAH1, PAH2 and PAH3. g , h Tube formation and scratch assays, in PAEC of PAH patients ( n = 5 replicates/patient). Scale bars, 200 μm in (g) 450 μm in ( h ). i Comet assay: DNA damage reflected by the comet tail length. Scale bar, 20 μm. PAH1, n = 173, 131; PAH2, n = 125, 129; PAH3; n = 116, 123 cells for GFP-vector, FOXF1- vector, respectively. Supplementary Fig. shows the images for tube formation, scratch and comet assays for patients PAH2, PAH3. a , c – h Bars represent mean ± S.E.M; ( b , i ), Box bounds = 25th and 75th percentiles, whiskers 10th to 90th percentiles, and box centre = the median. P values were determined by one-way ANOVA with Holm-Sidak posthoc test ( a ), 2-sided Mann–Whitney U test ( b , i ), or unpaired 2-sided t-test ( c – h ). ns, not significant. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Article Snippet: Primary human PAEC were purchased from PromoCell (#C-12241) and grown in complete EC media (EC basal medium #1001, ECGS #1052, 5% FBS #0025, and Penicillin/Streptmycin #0503) (ScienCell).
Techniques: Immunohistochemistry, Control, Tube Formation Assay, Wound Healing Assay, Migration, Expressing, Transfection, Plasmid Preparation, Single Cell Gel Electrophoresis, MANN-WHITNEY