Role of the stromal cell derived factor‑1 in the biological functions of endothelial progenitor cells and its underlying mechanisms

Abstract

Stromal cell derived factor-1 (SDF-1) is a chemokine that plays a critical role in the homing of stem and progenitor cells, including endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). However, little research has been undertaken to evaluate the roles of SDF-1 in the biological functions of EPCs and related signaling pathways. The present study aimed to investigate the biological functions of EPCs in response to SDF-1, as well as the underlying mechanisms. The effects of SDF-1 treatment on EPC proliferation, migration and tube formation were assessed by performing MTS, Transwell and in vitro tube formation assays, respectively. The phosphorylation status of Akt and ERK was evaluated by western blotting. The present results indicated that SDF-1 treatment enhanced EPC proliferation, migration and tube formation compared with the control group. Furthermore, SDF-1-induced EPC proliferation was significantly reduced following treatment with a C-X-C Motif Chemokine Receptor 4 antagonist (AMD3100), a PI3K inhibitor (LY294002) and the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibitor (MEK; PD98059). SDF-1-induced migration and angiogenesis were significantly suppressed by the PI3K inhibitor, but not the MEK inhibitor. Moreover, SDF-1 significantly increased the protein expression levels of phosphorylated (p)-Akt and p-ERK; however, SDF-1-induced effects on protein expression were suppressed by AMD3100, LY294002 and PD98059. Thus, SDF-1-induced EPC proliferation was mediated by activation of the Akt and ERK signaling pathways, whereas SDF-1-mediated EPC migration and tube formation only involved activation of the Akt signaling pathway.

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy combined with engineered mesenchymal stem cells expressing stromal cell-derived factor-1 can improve erectile dysfunction in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

“…This results align with previous studies which proved ESWT enhancing activation of penile progenitor cell (17,35). Cun et al described that SDF-1 is a chemokine that plays critical role in homing of stem and progenitor cells (36). In our study SDF-1 eMSC treated group did show increase in penile progenitor cells but not significantly.…”

Angiogenic Properties of Concentrated Growth Factors (CGFs): The Role of Soluble Factors and Cellular Components

“…CXCL-12 is a chemotactic molecule that promotes downstream effects mainly via the CXC motif chemokine receptor (CXCR)-4. It has been recognized that CXCL-12 was a strong chemoattractant for CD34 positive cells, including hematopoietic stem cells and EPC, which highly expressed CXCR-4, and induced their mobilization from bone marrow [ 75 , 76 ]. In addition, the increased expression of CXCL-12 in ischemic tissues carried out as a chemoattractant to support the homing of CXCR-4 positive EPC.…”

Construction and a preliminary study of paracrine effect of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cell sheet

“…The BM-derived EPCs were identified by incubation with 10 μg/ml Dil-labelled acetylad-low density lipoprotein (Dil-ac-LDL;cat.no.L-3484,Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, USA) for 4 h, following fixation with 4% phosphate-buffered paraformaldehyde for 10 min at room temperature, then stained with 10 μg/ml FITC-labeled-Ulex-europaeus-agglutinin1(UEA-1;cat.no.L9006,Sigma-Aldrich, MS, USA) for 1 h at 37 °C. The nucleus was stained with DAPI for 15 min, Images were captured by inverted fluorescence microscopy (Olympus IX71, Olympus Optical Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan), Double positive cells can be considered BM-EPCs (Cun et al 2021 ).…”