Fluid shear stress from blood flow is a major determinant of vascular development, physiology and disease. In particular, atherosclerosis is initiated at sites of disturbed shear stress due to the inflammatory activation of endothelial cell. Past major advances from my lab are the identification of PECAM-1, VE-cadherin and VEGFR2 as a shear stress mechanosensor, and the discovery that the extracellular matrix under the endothelial cells determines whether flow signals are pro- or anti-inflammatory. Thus, basement membranes (in healthy vessels) suppress inflammation while fibronectin (deposited in inflamed, injured or remodeling vessels) permits inflammation. The current grant led to several advances. First, matrix specific effect are mediated by differential cAMP/protein kinase A signaling, which is high on basement membrane and low on fibronectin. This is mediated by binding of the main fibronectin receptor, integrin ?5?1, to phosphodiesterase 4D, which suppresses cAMP. Second, using our novel method to measure forces across proteins, we found that flow triggers an increase in force across PECAM-1, mediated by its de novo association with vimentin intermediate filaments, which transmit force from myosin. Third, we found that VE-cadherin functions as an adapter, binding VEGF receptors through its transmembrane domain, to promote its activation by flow. Fourth, we identified flow direction as an essential aspect of inflammatory activation of endothelial cells by disturbed flow, with flow parallel to the endothelil cytoskeletal axis activating anti- inflammatory pathways whereas perpendicular flow preferentially activates pro-inflammatory pathways. We also have new data linking VE-cadherin phosphorylation to polarity proteins in flow signaling. For the renewal, we propose: 1) To test the in vivo effects of altering extracellular matrix signaling by examining mice that contain mutations in the integrin ?5 subunit and in phosphodiesterase 4D that specifically block pro-inflammatory flow signaling. 2) To characterize the integrin-phosphodiesterase interaction in more detail. 3) To elucidate how flow direction determines signaling output. 4) To determine the consequences of mutating VE-cadherin on flow signaling in vivo. Together, these studies will lead advance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which flow acts upon endothelial cells and will test their in vivo consequences for blood vessel biology. Additionally, several aims have the potential to identify new drug targets for suppression of chronic inflammation including atherosclerosis.

Public Health Relevance

Fluid shear stress is a major determinant of vascular development, physiology and disease. Building on past work from this lab, we will explore the molecular mechanisms that govern how flow activates the inflammatory pathways that lead to atherosclerosis. From this information, we will then use animal models to test whether inflammation and atherosclerosis can be suppressed by blocking specific elements of these pathways.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HL075092-13
Application #
9418512
Study Section
Vascular Cell and Molecular Biology Study Section (VCMB)
Program Officer
Chang, Henry
Project Start
2016-02-10
Project End
2020-01-31
Budget Start
2018-02-01
Budget End
2019-01-31
Support Year
13
Fiscal Year
2018
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Yale University
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
043207562
City
New Haven
State
CT
Country
United States
Zip Code
Budatha, Madhusudhan; Zhang, Jiasheng; Zhuang, Zhen W et al. (2018) Inhibiting Integrin ?5 Cytoplasmic Domain Signaling Reduces Atherosclerosis and Promotes Arteriogenesis. J Am Heart Assoc 7:
Nickerson, M L; Witte, N; Im, K M et al. (2017) Molecular analysis of urothelial cancer cell lines for modeling tumor biology and drug response. Oncogene 36:35-46
Conway, Daniel E; Coon, Brian G; Budatha, Madhusudhan et al. (2017) VE-Cadherin Phosphorylation Regulates Endothelial Fluid Shear Stress Responses through the Polarity Protein LGN. Curr Biol 27:2727
Conway, Daniel E; Coon, Brian G; Budatha, Madhusudhan et al. (2017) VE-Cadherin Phosphorylation Regulates Endothelial Fluid Shear Stress Responses through the Polarity Protein LGN. Curr Biol 27:2219-2225.e5
Baeyens, Nicolas; Schwartz, Martin A (2016) Biomechanics of vascular mechanosensation and remodeling. Mol Biol Cell 27:7-11
Baeyens, Nicolas; Bandyopadhyay, Chirosree; Coon, Brian G et al. (2016) Endothelial fluid shear stress sensing in vascular health and disease. J Clin Invest 126:821-8
Balestrini, Jenna L; Gard, Ashley L; Gerhold, Kristin A et al. (2016) Comparative biology of decellularized lung matrix: Implications of species mismatch in regenerative medicine. Biomaterials 102:220-30
Pawar, Archana; Meier, Jeremy A; Dasgupta, Anwesha et al. (2016) Ral-Arf6 crosstalk regulates Ral dependent exocyst trafficking and anchorage independent growth signalling. Cell Signal 28:1225-36
Yun, Sanguk; Budatha, Madhusudhan; Dahlman, James E et al. (2016) Interaction between integrin ?5 and PDE4D regulates endothelial inflammatory signalling. Nat Cell Biol 18:1043-53
Wang, Yingdi; Baeyens, Nicolas; Corti, Federico et al. (2016) Syndecan 4 controls lymphatic vasculature remodeling during mouse embryonic development. Development 143:4441-4451

Showing the most recent 10 out of 71 publications