Journal: International Journal of Biological Sciences

Article Title: TET1s deficiency exacerbates oscillatory shear flow-induced atherosclerosis

doi: 10.7150/ijbs.69281

Figure Lengend Snippet: CX40 mediates TET1s-induced endothelial barrier reinforcement. (A) Heatmap of the top 20 selected upregulated genes by RNA sequencing. (B) RT-qPCR was used to test the mRNA levels of the top 5 upregulated genes from RNA-seq and three hemodynamic-sensitive genes. (C) The CX40 protein expression level was quantified by WB (n=6 per group). (D-L) Stable CX40 -/- p-HUVECs were generated by transfecting human connexin 40-specific CRISPR/Cas9 KO plasmids. Then, TET1s-adenovirus was used to transfect CX40 -/- and CX40 +/+ p-HUVECs to generate CX40 +/+ +NC, CX40 +/+ +OE, CX40 -/- +NC and CX40 -/- +OE p-HUVECs. (D) The fluorescence intensity of the lower chamber medium was tested as described in Fig. C (n>6 per group). (E, H) Immunofluorescence staining for F-actin and VE-cadherin. The green dotted line indicates the intercellular space area. (F-G) Quantitative analysis of single-cell F-actin length and intercellular space area to image E (n>10 per group). (I-K) Quantitative analysis of VE-cadherin discontinuity, intercellular space area and ratio of VE-cadherin in several morphological categories to image H (n>10 per group). All data were presented as the mean ± SD.

Article Snippet: P-HUVECs were transfected at 60-70% confluence with connexin 40 (CX40) CRISPR/Cas9 KO plasmids (h) (sc-401031, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) and CX40 HDR (sc-401031-HDR, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) using UltraCruz® Transfection Reagent (sc-395739, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) according to the manufacturer's protocol.

Techniques: RNA Sequencing, Quantitative RT-PCR, Expressing, Generated, CRISPR, Fluorescence, Immunofluorescence, Staining, Quantitative Single Cell

Journal: International Journal of Biological Sciences

Article Title: TET1s deficiency exacerbates oscillatory shear flow-induced atherosclerosis

doi: 10.7150/ijbs.69281

Figure Lengend Snippet: TET1s increases CX40 expression by inhibiting histone deacetylation on the promoter of CX40. (A-B, D-E) p-HUVECs were transfected with TET1s-overexpressing adenovirus and negative control adenovirus and further tested after 48 h. (A) The global protein levels of ac-H3K27 and H3K27 in p-HUVECs were tested by Western blot (n=6 per group). (B) Sin3a interaction with TET1s and TET1-FL was analyzed by Co-IP (n=3 per group). (C) Schematic of human CX40 promoter and CHIP-qPCR products. TS indicates transcriptional start; P1-P5 indicates primer 1-primer 5; F indicates forward primer, R indicates reversed primer. (D-E) ChIP-qPCR was used to test Sin3a and ac-H3K27 enrichment in the CX40 promoter (-550 bp to +43 bp) (n=4 per group). (F-G) p-HUVECs were transfected with TET1s-overexpressing adenovirus and negative control adenovirus for 48 h and added HATI2 to media. (F) ChIP-qPCR was used to test ac-H3K27 enrichment in the CX40 promoter. (G) The CX40 mRNA levels were tested by RT-qPCR (n=4 per group). All data were shown as the mean ± SD.

Article Snippet: P-HUVECs were transfected at 60-70% confluence with connexin 40 (CX40) CRISPR/Cas9 KO plasmids (h) (sc-401031, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) and CX40 HDR (sc-401031-HDR, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) using UltraCruz® Transfection Reagent (sc-395739, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) according to the manufacturer's protocol.

Techniques: Expressing, Transfection, Negative Control, Western Blot, Co-Immunoprecipitation Assay, ChIP-qPCR, Quantitative RT-PCR

Journal: International Journal of Biological Sciences

Article Title: TET1s deficiency exacerbates oscillatory shear flow-induced atherosclerosis

doi: 10.7150/ijbs.69281

Figure Lengend Snippet: CX40 mediates TET1s-induced endothelial barrier reinforcement. (A) Heatmap of the top 20 selected upregulated genes by RNA sequencing. (B) RT-qPCR was used to test the mRNA levels of the top 5 upregulated genes from RNA-seq and three hemodynamic-sensitive genes. (C) The CX40 protein expression level was quantified by WB (n=6 per group). (D-L) Stable CX40 -/- p-HUVECs were generated by transfecting human connexin 40-specific CRISPR/Cas9 KO plasmids. Then, TET1s-adenovirus was used to transfect CX40 -/- and CX40 +/+ p-HUVECs to generate CX40 +/+ +NC, CX40 +/+ +OE, CX40 -/- +NC and CX40 -/- +OE p-HUVECs. (D) The fluorescence intensity of the lower chamber medium was tested as described in Fig. C (n>6 per group). (E, H) Immunofluorescence staining for F-actin and VE-cadherin. The green dotted line indicates the intercellular space area. (F-G) Quantitative analysis of single-cell F-actin length and intercellular space area to image E (n>10 per group). (I-K) Quantitative analysis of VE-cadherin discontinuity, intercellular space area and ratio of VE-cadherin in several morphological categories to image H (n>10 per group). All data were presented as the mean ± SD.

Article Snippet: P-HUVECs were transfected at 60-70% confluence with connexin 40 (CX40) CRISPR/Cas9 KO plasmids (h) (sc-401031, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) and CX40 HDR (sc-401031-HDR, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) using UltraCruz® Transfection Reagent (sc-395739, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) according to the manufacturer's protocol.

Techniques: RNA Sequencing, Quantitative RT-PCR, Expressing, Generated, CRISPR, Fluorescence, Immunofluorescence, Staining, Quantitative Single Cell

Journal: International Journal of Biological Sciences

Article Title: TET1s deficiency exacerbates oscillatory shear flow-induced atherosclerosis

doi: 10.7150/ijbs.69281

Figure Lengend Snippet: TET1s increases CX40 expression by inhibiting histone deacetylation on the promoter of CX40. (A-B, D-E) p-HUVECs were transfected with TET1s-overexpressing adenovirus and negative control adenovirus and further tested after 48 h. (A) The global protein levels of ac-H3K27 and H3K27 in p-HUVECs were tested by Western blot (n=6 per group). (B) Sin3a interaction with TET1s and TET1-FL was analyzed by Co-IP (n=3 per group). (C) Schematic of human CX40 promoter and CHIP-qPCR products. TS indicates transcriptional start; P1-P5 indicates primer 1-primer 5; F indicates forward primer, R indicates reversed primer. (D-E) ChIP-qPCR was used to test Sin3a and ac-H3K27 enrichment in the CX40 promoter (-550 bp to +43 bp) (n=4 per group). (F-G) p-HUVECs were transfected with TET1s-overexpressing adenovirus and negative control adenovirus for 48 h and added HATI2 to media. (F) ChIP-qPCR was used to test ac-H3K27 enrichment in the CX40 promoter. (G) The CX40 mRNA levels were tested by RT-qPCR (n=4 per group). All data were shown as the mean ± SD.

Article Snippet: P-HUVECs were transfected at 60-70% confluence with connexin 40 (CX40) CRISPR/Cas9 KO plasmids (h) (sc-401031, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) and CX40 HDR (sc-401031-HDR, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) using UltraCruz® Transfection Reagent (sc-395739, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) according to the manufacturer's protocol.

Techniques: Expressing, Transfection, Negative Control, Western Blot, Co-Immunoprecipitation Assay, ChIP-qPCR, Quantitative RT-PCR

Journal: Cellular physiology and biochemistry : international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology

Article Title: SIRT1 and Connexin40 Mediate the normal shear stress-induced inhibition of the proliferation of endothelial cells co-cultured with vascular smooth muscle cells.

doi: 10.1159/000343376

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fig. 4. The modulation of Cx40 distribution by SIRT1. SIRT1 activation by resveratrol down- regulated the expression of Cx40. However, inhibition of SIRT1 activity by salermide or the siRNA specific for SIRT1 up-regulated the expression of Cx40 in ECs. ECs were cultured alone in the static mode and treated as indicated for 24 hours with the inhibitor and the same amount of solvent as the control: A. Alcohol, solvent of resveratrol; B. resveratrol (50 µmol/L), an activator of SIRT1; C. DMSO, solvent of salermide; D. salermide (50 µmol/L), an inhibitor of SIRT1; E. transfected with non-silencing siRNA; F. transfected with SIRT1 siRNA (100 nmol/mL). ECs were incubated with the primary antibody against Cx40 and incubated with a FITC-conjugated secondary antibody along with DAPI. The samples were examined with a laser scanning confocal microscope (Olympus, LV1000). Bar = 30 µm, n = 3.

Article Snippet: Then, cells were incubated with the primary antibody against Cx40 (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, 1:25) at 4°C over night.

Techniques: Activation Assay, Expressing, Inhibition, Activity Assay, Cell Culture, Solvent, Control, Transfection, Incubation, Microscopy

Journal: Frontiers in Physiology

Article Title: Profibrotic, Electrical, and Calcium-Handling Remodeling of the Atria in Heart Failure Patients With and Without Atrial Fibrillation

doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01383

Figure Lengend Snippet: Atrial profibrotic and connexin remodeling. (A) Representative Western blot examples (top) and quantification of protein expression (bottom; mean ± SEM) of periostin, vimentin, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), fibronectin and collagen 1α (col1a) in right-atrial tissue homogenates from Ctl (white bars), HFrEF (blue bars) or HFrEF-cAF (red/blue-striped bars) patients. Vertical white lines separate non-adjacent lanes on the same blot. (B) Representative Western blot examples (top) and quantification of protein expression (bottom; mean ± SEM) of total connexin-40 (Cx40), total and Ser368-phosphorylated connexin-43 (Cx43). GAPDH was used as loading control and is shown for the samples used for Western blots of periostin, vimentin, α-SMA and MMP9, for TGF-β1, and for fibronectin and col1a. Numbers in bars indicate number of patients. ∗ indicates P < 0.05 vs. Ctl, # indicates P < 0.05 vs. HFrEF.

Article Snippet: Protein levels of α smooth-muscle actin (αSMA, 1:500, A5228, Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, United States), calsequestrin (CSQ, 1:2,500, PA1-913, Thermo Fisher Scientific), collagen 1α (Col1a, 1:1,000, sc-293182, Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA, United States), connexin-40 (Cx40, 1:1,000, ab1726, Merck Millipore, Burlington, MA, United States), total and Ser368-phosphorylated connexin-43 (Cx43, 1:1,000, 3511, Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA, United States), fibronectin (1:1,000, sc-8422, Santa Cruz Biotechnology), GAPDH (1:20,000, 5G4 6C5, HyTest, Turku, Finland), junctin (1:2,000, LS-C196703, LifeSpan BioSciences, Seattle, WA, United States), junctophilin-2 (1:1,000, sc-134875, Santa Cruz), matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9, 1:200, ab38898, Abcam, Cambridge, United Kingdom), Na + -Ca 2+ -exchanger type-1 (NCX1, 1:1,000, R3F1, Swant, Marly, Switzerland), periostin (1:1,000, sc-134875, Santa Cruz Biotechnology), total, Ser16- and Thr17-phosphorylated phospholamban (PLB, all 1:1,000, ab2865 and ab92697, Abcam, Cambridge, United Kingdom and A010-13, Badrilla Ltd., Leeds, United Kingdom), total ryanodine receptor type-2 channel (RyR2, 1:1,000, MA3-916, Thermo Fisher Scientific), sarcolipin (1:100, ABT13, Merck Millipore), sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca 2+ -ATPase type-2a (SERCA2a; 1:2,000, sc-8095, Santa Cruz Biotechnology), transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1, 1:1000, ab9758, Abcam), and vimentin (1:1,000, sc373717, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) were determined using appropriate primary antibodies.

Techniques: Western Blot, Expressing