Emerging Role of AP-1 Transcription Factor JunB in Angiogenesis and Vascular Development

Abstract

Blood vessels are essential for the formation and maintenance of almost all functional tissues. They play fundamental roles in the supply of oxygen and nutrition, as well as development and morphogenesis. Vascular endothelial cells are the main factor in blood vessel formation. Recently, research findings showed heterogeneity in vascular endothelial cells in different tissue/organs. Endothelial cells alter their gene expressions depending on their cell fate or angiogenic states of vascular development in normal and pathological processes. Studies on gene regulation in endothelial cells demonstrated that the activator protein 1 (AP-1) transcription factors are implicated in angiogenesis and vascular development. In particular, it has been revealed that JunB (a member of the AP-1 transcription factor family) is transiently induced in endothelial cells at the angiogenic frontier and controls them on tip cells specification during vascular development. Moreover, JunB plays a role in tissue-specific vascular maturation processes during neurovascular interaction in mouse embryonic skin and retina vasculatures. Thus, JunB appears to be a new angiogenic factor that induces endothelial cell migration and sprouting particularly in neurovascular interaction during vascular development. In this review, we discuss the recently identified role of JunB in endothelial cells and blood vessel formation.

Role of Calcium Signaling Pathway‐Related Gene Regulatory Networks in Ischemic Stroke Based on Multiple WGCNA and Single‐Cell Analysis

“…Previous studies have reported that the JNK/c-Jun/AP-1 pathway can be regulated via IL-13 in human vascular endothelial cells to participate in vascular inflammation-related pathophysiological alterations [ 54 ]. JUNB plays an important role in the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which induces JUNB expression in the budding vascular adventitia [ 55 – 57 ]. During mouse development, Junb expression is elevated in vascular endothelial cells owing to neurovascular interactions and is involved in the embryonic vascular network construction [ 58 ].…”

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis in Monocyte-Derived Macrophages of Asymptomatic GBA Mutation Carriers and Patients with GBA-Associated Parkinson’s Disease

“…Our data support the statement that neurodegenerative mechanisms could be detectable from a peripheral tissue. JUNB, EGR1, NR4A2 belong to immediate-early genes (IEGs) and encode the transcription factors, JunB, Egr-1, NR4A2, respectively [54][55][56][57]. These factors are activated in respond to a variety of cellular stimuli and control specific neuronal functions, including neuronal activity.…”

Transcriptional and Epigenetic Bioinformatic Analysis of Claudin-9 Regulation in Gastric Cancer

“…Interestingly, 20 different transcription factors that can bind the CLDN9 promoter region with a 100% score were determined. e majority are considered the key regulators of epithelial differentiation and organ development, i.e., CP2 [84], the maintenance of the germline stem cells, i.e., USF [85], enhancers that activate transcriptional programs and cellular reprogramming, i.e., GATA1 and GATA 3 [86], favor cell growth and proliferation, i.e., AP1 and AP4 [87], and facilitate TJ formation in carcinoma cells, i.e., HNF4 [88].…”