Heterogenic endothelial responses to inflammation: role for differential N-glycosylation and vascular bed of origin

Endothelial cell responses during inflammation are heterogeneous and key for selectivity in how leukocytes hone in on specific sites and why vascular diseases are highly bed specific. However, mechanisms for this specificity remain unclear.

These results demonstrate a critical role for the vascular bed of origin in controlling endothelial responses and function to inflammatory stimuli and suggest that bed-specific expression of N-linked sugars may provide a signature for select leukocyte recruitment.

Here, we exposed human endothelial cells isolated from 5 systemic arterial beds from 1 donor (to overcome donor-to-donor genetic/epigenetic differences), the umbilical vein, and pulmonary microvasculature to TNF-α, LPS, and IL-1β and assessed acute (ERK1/2 and p65) and chronic (ICAM-1, VCAM-1 total and surface expression) signaling responses and assessed changes in surface N-glycans and monocyte adhesion. Significant diversity in responses was evident by disparate changes in ERK1/2 and p65 NF-κB phosphorylation, which varied up to 5-fold between different cells and in temporal and magnitude differences in ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression (maximal VCAM-1 induction typically being observed by 4 hours, whereas ICAM-1 expression was increased further at 24 hours relative to 4 hours). N-glycan profiles both basally and with stimulation were also bed specific, with hypoglycosylated N-glycans correlating with increased THP-1 monocyte adhesion. Differences in surface N-glycan expression tracked with dynamic up- or downregulation of α-mannosidase activity during inflammation. Conclusions: These results demonstrate a critical role for the vascular bed of origin in controlling endothelial responses and function to inflammatory stimuli and suggest that bed-specific expression of N-linked sugars may provide a signature for select leukocyte recruitment.