Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

Publication Title

Cells

Volume

10

Issue

6

Pages

1489 (1-12)

DOI

10.3390/cells10061489

Abstract

Exposure to hydrochloric acid (HCl) leads acutely to asthma-like symptoms, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), including compromised alveolo-capillary barrier, and respiratory failure. To better understand the direct effects of HCl on pulmonary endothelial function, we studied the characteristics of HCl-induced endothelial barrier dysfunction in primary cultures of human lung microvascular endothelial cells (HLMVEC), defined the involved molecular pathways, and tested the potentially beneficial effects of Heat Shock Protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitors. HCl impaired barrier function in a time- and concentration-dependent manner and was associated with activation of Protein Kinase B (AKT), Ras homolog family member A (RhoA) and myosin light chain 2 (MLC2), as well as loss of plasmalemmal VE-cadherin, rearrangement of cortical actin, and appearance of inter-endothelial gaps. Pre-treatment or post-treatment of HLMVEC with AUY-922, a third-generation HSP90 inhibitor, prevented and restored HCl-induced endothelial barrier dysfunction. AUY-922 increased the expression of HSP70 and inhibited the activation (phosphorylation) of extracellular-signal regulated kinase (ERK) and AKT. AUY-922 also prevented the HCl-induced activation of RhoA and MLC2 and the internalization of plasmalemmal VE-cadherin. We conclude that, by increasing the expression of cytoprotective proteins, interfering with actomyosin contractility, and enhancing the expression of junction proteins, inhibition of HSP90 may represent a useful approach for the management of HCl-induced endothelial dysfunction and acute lung injury.

Comments

Copyright © 2021 by the authors.

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Original Publication Citation

Colunga Biancatelli, R. M. L., Solopov, P., Gregory, B., & Catravas, J. D. (2021). The HSP90 inhibitor, AUY-922, protects and repairs human lung microvascular endothelial cells from hydrochloric acid-induced endothelial barrier dysfunction. Cells, 10(6), 1-12, Article 1489. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells10061489

ORCID

0000-0002-1174-3876 (Colunga Biancatelli), 0000-0002-1705-027X (Solopov), 0000-0002-5098-295X (Catravas)

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