Journal: iScience

Article Title: Cardiomyocyte-derived HSPB1 regulates TGF-β1 maturation and inhibits endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition in myocardial fibrosis

doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.115028

Figure Lengend Snippet: Regulatory role of HSPB1 in endothelial cell EndoMT (A) Western blot shows HSPB1 expression in HUVECs following lentiviral-mediated overexpression (LV-HSPB1) or knockdown (LV-HSPB1-RNAi); β-actin served as a loading control. (B) Quantification of HSPB1/β-actin ratio shows significant differences between groups. (C) Representative images of Transwell migration assays evaluating the effect of HSPB1 on TGF-β1–induced endothelial migration (scale bars, 100 μm). (D) Quantification of migrated cells per field. (E) Representative tube formation images showing the effect of HSPB1 modulation on TGF-β1–induced angiogenic activity (scale bars, 200 μm). (F–H) Quantitative analysis of tube formation parameters, including the number of branches (F), loops (G), and total tube length (H), measured using ImageJ software. Data are presented as mean ± SD ( n ≥ 6). Exact p values are indicated in the graphs. Statistical analyses were performed using one-way ANOVA followed by a Bonferroni post hoc test.

Article Snippet: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs; primary, pooled donors; ATCC) were purchased through an authorized distributor in China and originally sourced from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Manassas, VA, USA).

Techniques: Western Blot, Expressing, Over Expression, Knockdown, Control, Migration, Activity Assay, Software

Journal: iScience

Article Title: Cardiomyocyte-derived HSPB1 regulates TGF-β1 maturation and inhibits endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition in myocardial fibrosis

doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.115028

Figure Lengend Snippet: Proposed model of HSPB1-mediated redox regulation of TGF-β1 maturation during post-MI fibrosis. During myocardial fibrosis following myocardial infarction, the expression of HSPB1 is markedly upregulated in the peri-infarct region. Upon activation, HSPB1 exposes its reactive cysteine residue (Cys137), which may interact with critical cysteine sites within pre-pro-TGF-β1, thereby influencing its redox-dependent folding and disulfide bond formation. This interaction potentially interferes with the maturation and secretion of active TGF-β1 into the extracellular space. Reduced secretion of mature TGF-β1 limits Smad2/3 phosphorylation and endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition, ultimately alleviating myocardial fibrosis. The red dashed box highlights the hypothesized redox regulatory interaction between HSPB1 and pre-pro-TGF-β1, which requires further biochemical validation.

Article Snippet: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs; primary, pooled donors; ATCC) were purchased through an authorized distributor in China and originally sourced from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Manassas, VA, USA).

Techniques: Expressing, Activation Assay, Residue, Phospho-proteomics, Biomarker Discovery

Journal: Journal of Materials Science. Materials in Medicine

Article Title: SDF-1α gene-activated collagen scaffold enhances provasculogenic response in a coculture of human endothelial cells with human adipose-derived stromal cells

doi: 10.1007/s10856-021-06499-6

Figure Lengend Snippet: Effect of PEI–pSDF-1α transfection on HUVECs and its impact on ADSCs. A PEI–pSDF-1α transfected HUVECs exhibited significantly enhanced survivability response compared to those transfected nontherapeutic PEI–pLuc polyplex. B Transfection with PEI–pSDF-1α induced transient production of the target protein over a period of 2 weeks. C Phase-contrast microscopy images of morphological changes in HUVECs and its coculture with ADSCs at day 14. i Untransfected HUVECs maintained its cobblestone-like morphology. ii Transfected HUVECs appeared more polarized. iii Addition of ADSCs to untransfected HUVECs resulted in the formation of interconnected cellular network within the monolayer assembly. iv Elongated, pseudo three-dimensional dense cellular clusters were formed in transfected coculture group. Data are plotted as mean ± standard deviation ( n = 6)

Article Snippet: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and ADSCs were obtained from Cell Applications, Inc. and iXCells Biotechnologies, USA, respectively.

Techniques: Transfection, Microscopy, Standard Deviation

Journal: Journal of Materials Science. Materials in Medicine

Article Title: SDF-1α gene-activated collagen scaffold enhances provasculogenic response in a coculture of human endothelial cells with human adipose-derived stromal cells

doi: 10.1007/s10856-021-06499-6

Figure Lengend Snippet: Temporal regulation of soluble VE-cadherin from endothelialized gene-free scaffold and SDF-1α GAS. SDF-1α GAS strongly affects the vascular growth of endothelial cells by suppressing the release of soluble VE-cadherin. Coculturing with ADSCs offers further control on the release of soluble VE-cadherin from endothelial cells. HUVECs on SDF-1α GAS demonstrated significant reduction in the levels of soluble VE-cadherin at days 7 ( p < 0.05) and 10 ( p < 0.0005) relative to HUVECs on gene-free scaffold. Coculture on SDF-1α GAS strongly attenuated the release of VE-cadherin at all time points. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. One-way ANOVA was used to deduce statistical significance. *, **, ***, and **** indicate statistical significance of p < 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.005, and p < 0.0005, respectively

Article Snippet: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and ADSCs were obtained from Cell Applications, Inc. and iXCells Biotechnologies, USA, respectively.

Techniques: Control, Standard Deviation

Journal: Journal of Materials Science. Materials in Medicine

Article Title: SDF-1α gene-activated collagen scaffold enhances provasculogenic response in a coculture of human endothelial cells with human adipose-derived stromal cells

doi: 10.1007/s10856-021-06499-6

Figure Lengend Snippet: Gene expression analysis of HUVECs and its coculture on gene-free scaffolds and SDF-1α GAS. SDF-1α GAS significantly increased the expression of mRNAs for SDF-1α and its cognate receptor CXCR4 in HUVECs. Coculture with ADSCs significantly elevated the expression of downstream effector genes of SDF-1α—CXCR4 and eNOS than the HUVECs on SDF-1α GAS. Data are plotted as mean ± standard deviation ( n = 3). *, **, and *** indicate statistical significance of p < 0.05, p < 0.01, and p < 0.005, respectively

Article Snippet: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and ADSCs were obtained from Cell Applications, Inc. and iXCells Biotechnologies, USA, respectively.

Techniques: Expressing, Standard Deviation

Journal: Journal of Materials Science. Materials in Medicine

Article Title: SDF-1α gene-activated collagen scaffold enhances provasculogenic response in a coculture of human endothelial cells with human adipose-derived stromal cells

doi: 10.1007/s10856-021-06499-6

Figure Lengend Snippet: Visualization of endothelial anastomosis and SDF-1α expression. A All the cultures showed strong immunoreactivity to CD31 and exhibited endothelial morphogenesis representative of capillary-like network. B HUVECs on the gene-free scaffold expressed the lowest amount of SDF-1α proteins. C Magnified images of the endothelial network showing the differences in spatial distribution of SDF-1α between the groups. D Quantitative representation of SDF-1α protein expression showing an increasing trend toward the coculture group. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. * indicates statistical significance of p < 0.05

Article Snippet: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and ADSCs were obtained from Cell Applications, Inc. and iXCells Biotechnologies, USA, respectively.

Techniques: Expressing, Standard Deviation