Abstract-Nitric oxide (NO) is a powerful angiogenic mediator acting downstream of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Both the endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) and the VEGFR-2 receptor colocalize in caveolae. Because the structural protein of these signaling platforms, caveolin, also represses eNOS activity, changes in its abundance are likely to influence the angiogenic process in various ways. In this study, we used mice deficient for the caveolin-1 gene (Cav Ϫ/Ϫ ) to examine the impact of caveolae suppression in a model of adaptive angiogenesis obtained after femoral artery resection. Evaluation of the ischemic tissue perfusion and histochemical analyses revealed that contrary to Cav ϩ/ϩ mice, Cav Ϫ/Ϫ mice failed to recover a functional vasculature and actually lost part of the ligated limbs, thereby recapitulating the effects of the NOS inhibitor L-NAME administered to operated Cav ϩ/ϩ mice. We also isolated endothelial cells (ECs) from Cav Ϫ/Ϫ aorta and showed that on VEGF stimulation, NO production and endothelial tube formation were dramatically abrogated when compared with Cav ϩ/ϩ ECs. The Ser1177 eNOS phosphorylation and Thr495 dephosphorylation but also the ERK phosphorylation were similarly altered in VEGF-treated Cav Ϫ/Ϫ ECs. Interestingly, caveolin transfection in Cav Ϫ/Ϫ ECs redirected the VEGFR-2 in caveolar membranes and restored the VEGF-induced ERK and eNOS activation. However, when high levels of recombinant caveolin were reached, VEGF exposure failed to activate ERK and eNOS. These results emphasize the critical role of caveolae in ensuring the coupling between VEGFR-2 stimulation and downstream mediators of angiogenesis. This study also provides new insights to understand the paradoxical roles of caveolin (eg, repressing basal enzyme activity but facilitating activation on agonist stimulation) in cardiovascular pathophysiology. Key Words: caveolin-1 Ⅲ nitric oxide Ⅲ vascular endothelial growth factor Ⅲ angiogenesis Ⅲ ischemia C aveolae are 50-to 100-nm cell surface invaginations playing key roles in vesicular transport and signal transduction. 1 The structural protein of these plasmalemmal microdomains, caveolin, acts as a scaffold for many caveolar residents. 2 The caveolin-1 isoform is particularly abundant in endothelial cells (ECs) where it regulates various functions including transcytosis, permeability, vascular tone, and angiogenesis. 3 Recently, Woodman et al 4 documented that in a model of tumor cell injection in caveolin-deficient mice (Cav Ϫ/Ϫ ), angiogenesis was markedly reduced in comparison with wild-type (WT) animals. Although the same authors showed that the reduction in vessel density could be reproduced in a model of Matrigel plugs supplemented with bFGF, 4 the mechanisms supporting the role of caveolin in the angiogenic response to exogenous stimuli remain poorly understood and, based on previous publications, 5-9 a matter of debate.For instance, the well-established inhibitory interaction between caveolin and the endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS) 10,11 le...

Tumors may evade immune responses at multiple levels, including through a defect in the lymphocyte-vessel wall interactions. The angiogenic nature of endothelial cells (EC) lining tumor blood vessels may account for such anergy. In this study, we examined whether mechanisms other than down-regulation of adhesion molecules could be involved, particularly signaling pathways dependent on the caveolae platforms. To mimic the influence of the tumor microenvironment, EC were exposed to TNF-α and the proangiogenic vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). We identified a dramatic inhibition of lymphocyte adhesion on activated EC following either short or long VEGF pretreatments. We further documented that VEGF did not influence the abundance of major adhesion molecules, but was associated with a defect in ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 clustering at the EC surface. We also found that overexpression of the caveolar structural protein, caveolin-1, overcame the VEGF-mediated inhibition of adhesion and restored ICAM-1 clustering. Conversely, EC transduction with a caveolin-1 small interfering RNA reduced the TNF-α-dependent increase in adhesion. Finally, we identified VEGF-induced NO production by the endothelial NO synthase as the main target of the changes in caveolin-1 abundance. We found that the NO synthase inhibitor N-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester could reverse the inhibitory effects of VEGF on lymphocyte adhesion and EC cytoskeleton rearrangement. Symmetrically, a NO donor was shown to prevent the ICAM clustering-mediated lymphocyte adhesion, thereby recapitulating the effects of VEGF. In conclusion, this study provides new insights on the mechanisms leading to the tumor EC anergy vs immune cells and opens new perspectives for the use of antiangiogenic strategies as adjuvant approaches to cancer immunotherapy.

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Acute hypoxia (transient cycles of hypoxia-reoxygenation) is known to occur in solid tumors and is generally believed to be caused by tumor blood flow instabilities. It was recently demonstrated that T2*-weighted (T2*w) gradient echo (GRE) MRI is a powerful non-invasive method for investigating periodic changes in tumor pO2 and blood flow associated with acute hypoxia. Here, the possible correlation between tumor vessel immaturity, vessel functionality and T2*w GRE signal fluctuations was investigated. Intramuscularly implanted FSa II fibrosarcoma-bearing mice were imaged at 4.7 T. Maps of spontaneous fluctuations of MR signal intensity in tumor tissue during air breathing were obtained using a T2*w GRE sequence. This same sequence was also employed during air-5% CO2 breathing (hypercapnia) and carbogen breathing (hypercapnic hyperoxia) to obtain parametric maps representing vessel maturation and vessel function, respectively. Vascular density, vessel maturation and vessel perfusion were also assessed histologically by using CD31 labeling, alpha-smooth muscle actin immunoreactivity and Hoechst 33242 labeling, respectively. About 50% of the tumor fluctuations occurred in functional tumor regions (responsive to carbogen) and 80% occurred in tumor regions with immature vessels (lack of response to hypercapnia). The proportion of hypercapnia-responsive voxels were found to be twice as great in fluctuating than in non-fluctuating tumor areas (P: 0.22 vs 0.13). Similarly, the proportion of functional voxels was somewhat greater in fluctuating tumor areas (P: 0.54 vs 0.43). The mean values of MR signal changes during hypercapnia (VD) and during carbogen breathing (VF) (significant voxels only) were also larger in fluctuating than in non-fluctuating tumor areas (P < 0.05). This study demonstrated that adequate vessel functionality and advanced vessel maturation could explain at least in part the occurrence of spontaneous T2*w GRE signal fluctuations. Functionality and maturation are not required for signal fluctuations, however, because a large fraction of fluctuations could still occur in non-perfused and/or immature vessels.

Abstract-When neovascularization is triggered in ischemic tissues, angiogenesis but also (postnatal) vasculogenesis is induced, the latter requiring the mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) from the bone marrow. Caveolin, the structural protein of caveolae, was recently reported to directly influence the angiogenic process through the regulation of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/nitric oxide pathway. In this study, using caveolin-1 null mice (Cav Ϫ/Ϫ ), we examined whether caveolin was also involved in the EPC recruitment in a model of ischemic hindlimb. Intravenous infusion of Sca-1 ϩ Lin Ϫ progenitor cells, but not bone marrow transplantation, rescued the defective neovascularization in Cav Ϫ/Ϫ mice, suggesting a defect in progenitor mobilization. The adhesion of Cav Ϫ/Ϫ EPC to bone marrow stromal cells indeed appeared to be resistant to the otherwise mobilizing SDF-1 (Stromal cell-Derived Factor-1) exposure because of a defect in the internalization of the SDF-1 cognate receptor CXCR4. Symmetrically, the attachment of Cav Ϫ/Ϫ EPC to SDF-1-presenting endothelial cells was significantly increased. Finally, EPC transduction with caveolin small interfering RNA reproduced this advantage in vitro and, importantly, led to a more extensive rescue of the ischemic hindlimb after intravenous infusion (versus sham-transfected EPC). These results underline the critical role of caveolin in ensuring the caveolae-mediated endocytosis of CXCR4, regulating both the SDF-1-mediated mobilization and peripheral homing of progenitor cells in response to ischemia. In particular, a transient reduction in caveolin expression was shown to therapeutically increase the engraftment of progenitor cells.