Decreased apelin and apelin-receptor expression in the pulmonary vasculature of nitrofen-induced congenital diaphragmatic hernia
Abstract
The high morbidity and mortality in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) are attributed to severe pulmonary hypoplasia and persistent pulmonary hypertension (PH). PH is characterized by structural changes in pulmonary arteries, resulting in adventitial and medial thickness. These effects are triggered by abnormal apoptosis and proliferation of pulmonary vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Apelin (APLN), a target gene of bone morphogenic protein receptor 2 (BMPR2), is known to play an important and manifold role in regulating pulmonary homeostasis promoting endothelial cell (EC) survival, proliferation and migration. In addition to these autocrine effects of apelin, it displays a paracrine function attenuating the response of pulmonary SMCs to growth factors and promoting apoptosis. Apelin exerts its effect via its G-protein-coupled receptor (APLNR) and is solely expressed by pulmonary vascular EC, whereas APLNR is co-localized in pulmonary ECs and SMCs. Dysfunction of BMPR2 and downstream signalling have been shown to disturb the crucial balance of proliferation of SMCs contributing to the pathogenesis of human and experimentally induced PH. We designed this study to investigate the hypothesis that apelin and ...Continue Reading
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Apoptosis
Apoptosis is a specific process that leads to programmed cell death through the activation of an evolutionary conserved intracellular pathway leading to pathognomic cellular changes distinct from cellular necrosis