A Heat-Shock Protein Axis Regulates VEGFR2 Proteolysis,Blood Vessel Development and Repair |
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Authors: | Alexander F Bruns Nadira Yuldasheva Antony M Latham Leyuan Bao Caroline Pellet-Many Paul Frankel Sam L Stephen Gareth J Howell Stephen B Wheatcroft Mark T Kearney Ian C Zachary Sreenivasan Ponnambalam |
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Institution: | 1. Endothelial Cell Biology Unit, School for Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.; 2. Division of Cardiovascular and Diabetes Research, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.; 3. Centre for Cardiovascular Biology and Medicine, University College London, London, United Kingdom.; Bristol Heart Institute, University of Bristol, United Kingdom, |
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Abstract: | Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) binds to the VEGFR2 receptor tyrosine kinase, regulating endothelial function, vascular physiology and angiogenesis. However, the mechanism underlying VEGFR2 turnover and degradation in this response is unclear. Here, we tested a role for heat-shock proteins in regulating the presentation of VEGFR2 to a degradative pathway. Pharmacological inhibition of HSP90 stimulated VEGFR2 degradation in primary endothelial cells and blocked VEGF-A-stimulated intracellular signaling via VEGFR2. HSP90 inhibition stimulated the formation of a VEGFR2-HSP70 complex. Clathrin-mediated VEGFR2 endocytosis is required for this HSP-linked degradative pathway for targeting VEGFR2 to the endosome-lysosome system. HSP90 perturbation selectively inhibited VEGF-A-stimulated human endothelial cell migration in vitro. A mouse femoral artery model showed that HSP90 inhibition also blocked blood vessel repair in vivo consistent with decreased endothelial regeneration. Depletion of either HSP70 or HSP90 caused defects in blood vessel formation in a transgenic zebrafish model. We conclude that perturbation of the HSP70-HSP90 heat-shock protein axis stimulates degradation of endothelial VEGFR2 and modulates VEGF-A-stimulated intracellular signaling, endothelial cell migration, blood vessel development and repair. |
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