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Yin Tintut

Publications and source records attributed to Yin Tintut.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

Mechanical response of a calcified plaque model to fluid shear force.

Vascular calcification is associated with atherosclerosis, but whether it mechanically affects plaque stability remains controversial. To assess the effect of mineralization on plaque vulnerability to mechanical shear stress, we applied fluid shear to cultures of calcifying vascular cells (CVC), a subpopulation of smooth muscle cells that spontaneously mineralize. CVC cultures containing nodules were treated for 10 days with vehicle control or beta-glycerophosphate (BGP) to accelerate mineralization. Cultures were placed in a parallel-plate flow system and were subjected to increasing fluid shear stress (4.9 dyn/cm(2)/min up to 400 dyn/cm(2)). The number of nodules remaining attached was recorded every 10 min. Results showed that control cultures and BGP-treated cultures, which contained significantly greater calcium mineral than control cultures, had similar detachment thresholds (50-100 dyn/cm(2)), with linear portions of their stress/detachment curves from 100 to 275 dyn/cm(2). Based on repeated measure analysis of variance, BGP-treated nodules were no more likely to detach at a given shear than controls, although they showed a trend toward greater stability. Thus, calcification does not appear to increase plaque vulnerability to fluid shear stress, although it may contribute to a slight stabilization. This model may represent the first in vitro model of mechanical rupture of atherosclerotic plaque.

Atherosclerosis↗

Role of osteoprotegerin and its ligands and competing receptors in atherosclerotic calcification.

Vascular calcification significantly impairs cardiovascular physiology, and its mechanism is under investigation. Many of the same factors that modulate bone osteogenesis, including cytokines, hormones, and lipids, also modulate vascular calcification, acting through many of the same transcription factors. In some cases, such as for lipids and cytokines, the net effect on calcification is positive in the artery wall and negative in bone. The mechanism for this reciprocal relation is not established. A recent series of reports points to the possibility that two bone regulatory factors, receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL) and its soluble decoy receptor, osteoprotegerin (OPG), govern vascular calcification and may explain the phenomenon. Both RANKL and OPG are widely accepted as the final common pathway for most factors and processes affecting bone resorption. Binding of RANKL to its cognate receptor RANK induces NF-kappaB signaling, which stimulates osteoclastic differentiation in preosteoclasts and induces bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2) expression in chondrocytes. A role for RANKL and its receptors in vascular calcification is spported by several findings: a vascular calcification phenotype in mice genetically deficient in OPG; an increase in expression of RANKL, and a decrease in expression of OPG, in calcified arteries; clinical associations between coronary disease and serum OPG and RANKL levels; and RANKL induction of calcification and osteoblastic differentiation in valvular myofibroblasts.

Animals↗

Insulin-like growth factor-I regulates proliferation and osteoblastic differentiation of calcifying vascular cells via extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathways.

Vascular calcification develops within atherosclerotic lesions and results from a process similar to osteogenesis. One of the paracrine regulators of bone-derived osteoblasts, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), is also present in atherosclerotic lesions. To evaluate its possible role in vascular calcification, we assessed its in vitro effects on proliferation and differentiation in calcifying vascular cells (CVCs), a subpopulation of bovine aortic medial cells. Results showed that IGF-I inhibited spontaneous CVC differentiation and mineralization as evidenced by decreased alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity and decreased matrix calcium incorporation, respectively. Furthermore, IGF-I inhibited the AP activity induced by bacterial lipopolysaccharide, TNF-alpha, or H2O2. It also induced CVC proliferation based on 3H-thymidine incorporation. Results from Northern analysis and tests using IGF-I analogs suggest that IGF-I effects are mediated through the IGF-I receptor. IGF-I also activated both the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathways. Inhibition of either the ERK or PI3K pathway reversed IGF-I effects on CVC proliferation and AP activity, suggesting a common downstream target. Overexpression of ERK activator also mimicked IGF-I inhibition of lipopolysaccharide-induced AP activity. These results suggest that IGF-I promotes proliferation and inhibits osteoblastic differentiation and mineralization of vascular cells via both ERK and PI3K pathways.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

Regulation of RANKL-induced osteoclastic differentiation by vascular cells.

Vascular calcification is a regulated process of biomineralization resembling osteogenesis. Many bone-related factors, including resorptive osteoclast-like cells, although in low abundance, have been found in calcified atherosclerotic lesions. The regulatory mechanisms governing them in the vasculature, however, are not clear. Previously, we found that calcifying vascular cells (CVC), a subpopulation of bovine aortic smooth muscle cells (BASMC), undergo osteoblastic differentiation and form mineralized nodules. Since osteoblasts and marrow stromal preosteoblasts regulate osteoclastic differentiation in bone, we hypothesized that vascular cells also regulate differentiation of osteoclastic precursors in the artery wall. Peripheral blood monocytes, which are osteoclast precursors, were co-cultured with CVC or BASMC. Results showed that monocytes co-cultured with both of the vascular cells yielded fewer resorption pits than monocytes cultured alone. Furthermore, monocytes co-cultured with CVC had fewer resorption pits than those co-cultured with BASMC. Conditioned media from the vascular cells also inhibited resorptive activity of monocytes suggesting that the inhibitory effect was mediated in part by soluble factors. Compared with BASMC, CVC had lower mRNA expression for osteopontin, which promotes osteoclast attachment, but greater mRNA expression for the soluble inhibitory cytokine, IL-18. Increased osteoclastic differentiation was observed when neutralizing antibody to IL-18 receptor was added to the cultures of preosteoclasts with CVC conditioned media. Osteoprotegerin, another osteoclast inhibitory cytokine, was expressed at similar levels in both cultures. These results suggest that vascular cells inhibit osteoclastic differentiation, and that CVC have greater inhibitory effects than BASMC.

Animals↗

Mesenchymal stem cells and the artery wall.

The presence of ectopic tissue in the diseased artery wall is evidence for the presence of multipotential stem cells in the vasculature. Mesenchymal stem cells were first identified in the marrow stroma, and they differentiate along multiple lineages giving rise to cartilage, bone, fat, muscle, and vascular tissue in vitro and in vivo. Transplantation studies show that marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells appear to enter the circulation and engraft other tissues, including the artery wall, at sites of injury. Recent evidence indicates that mesenchymal stem cells are also present in normal artery wall and microvessels and that they also may enter the circulation, contributing to the population of circulating progenitor cells and engrafting other tissues. Thus, the artery wall is not only a destination but also a source of progenitor cells that have regenerative potential. Although potential artifacts, such as fusion, need to be taken into consideration, these new developments in vascular biology open important therapeutic avenues. A greater understanding of how mesenchymal stem cells from the bone marrow or artery wall bring about vascular regeneration and repair may lead to novel cell-based treatments for cardiovascular disease.

Animals↗

Pattern formation by vascular mesenchymal cells.

In embryogenesis, immature mesenchymal cells aggregate and organize into patterned tissues. Later in life, a pathological recapitulation of this process takes place in atherosclerotic lesions, when vascular mesenchymal cells organize into trabecular bone tissue within the artery wall. Here we show that multipotential adult vascular mesenchymal cells self-organize in vitro into patterns that are predicted by a mathematical model based on molecular morphogens interacting in a reaction-diffusion process. We identify activator and inhibitor morphogens for stripe, spot, and labyrinthine patterns and confirm the model predictions in vitro. Thus, reaction-diffusion principles may play a significant role in morphogenetic processes in adult mesenchymal cells.

Animals↗

Vascular calcification: mechanisms and clinical ramifications.

Vascular calcification, long thought to result from passive degeneration, involves a complex, regulated process of biomineralization resembling osteogenesis. Evidence indicates that proteins controlling bone mineralization are also involved in the regulation of vascular calcification. Artery wall cells grown in culture are induced to become osteogenic by inflammatory and atherogenic stimuli. Furthermore, osteoclast-like cells are found in calcified atherosclerotic plaques, and active resorption of ectopic vascular calcification has been demonstrated. In general, soft tissue calcification arises in areas of chronic inflammation, possibly functioning as a barrier limiting the spread of the inflammatory stimulus. Atherosclerotic calcification may be one example of this process, in which oxidized lipids are the inflammatory stimulus. Calcification is widely used as a clinical indicator of atherosclerosis. It progresses nonlinearly with time, following a sigmoid-shaped curve. The relationship between calcification and clinical events likely relates to mechanical instability introduced by calcified plaque at its interface with softer, noncalcified plaque. In general, as calcification proceeds, interface surface area increases initially, but eventually decreases as plaques coalesce. This phenomenon may account for reports of less calcification in unstable plaque. Vascular calcification is exacerbated in certain clinical entities, including diabetes, menopause, and osteoporosis. Mechanisms linking them must be considered in clinical decisions. For example, treatments for osteoporosis may have unanticipated effects on vascular calcification; the converse also applies. Further understanding of processes governing vascular calcification may yield new therapeutic options for vascular disease.

Animals↗

Hyperlipidemia promotes osteoclastic potential of bone marrow cells ex vivo.

OBJECTIVE: Osteoporosis is associated epidemiologically with atherosclerosis and hyperlipidemia. We previously found that atherogenic lipids regulate bone formation. To determine whether hyperlipidemia also affects bone resorption, we compared osteoclastogenesis in marrow preosteoclasts derived from hyperlipidemic versus control mice. METHODS: Nonadherent marrow cells from low-density lipoprotein receptor-/- (LDLR-/-)and C57BL/6J mice were cultured with M-CSF and ligand for receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB (RANKL). Functional osteoclastic activity, measured as number of resorption pits, was significantly greater in 12-month-old LDLR-/-. Similar results were obtained in 5- and 10-month-old LDLR-/- versus C57BL/6J mice on a high-fat diet. Osteoclastic differentiation, indicated by tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity, was significantly greater in the 12-month-old LDLR-/-, and there was a trend toward increased TRAP activity in LDLR-/- on a high-fat diet, at ages 5 and 10 months. Osteoclastic parameters correlated with total serum lipoproteins with a possible threshold effect. Osteoporotic human cortical bone stained positive for lipids in the perivascular space of Haversian canals by oil red O. The presence of lipid hydroperoxides was detected in bone marrow from hyperlipidemic mice. CONCLUSIONS: Hyperlipidemia may contribute to osteoporosis via increased osteoclastic bone resorption.

Animals↗

Multilineage potential of cells from the artery wall.

BACKGROUND: In diabetes or atherosclerosis, ectopic bone, fat, cartilage, and marrow often develop in arteries. However the mechanism is unknown. We have previously identified a subpopulation of vascular cells (calcifying vascular cells, CVC), derived by dilutional cloning of bovine aortic medial cells, and showed that they undergo osteoblastic differentiation and mineralization. We now show that CVC have the potential to differentiate along other mesenchymal lineages. METHODS AND RESULTS: To determine the multilineage potential of CVC, molecular and functional markers of multiple mesenchymal lineages were assessed. Chondrogenic potential of CVC was evidenced by expression of types II and IX collagen and cytochemical staining for Alcian blue. Leiomyogenic potential of CVC was evidenced by the expression of smooth muscle-alpha actin, calponin, caldesmon, and myosin heavy chain. Stromogenic potential of CVC was evidenced by the ability to support growth of colony-forming units of hematopoietic progenitor cells from human CD34+ umbilical cord blood cells for a period of 5 weeks. Adipogenic potential was not observed. CVC were immunopositive to antigens to CD29 and CD44 but not to CD14 or CD45, consistent with other mesenchymal stem cells. CVC retained multipotentiality despite passaging and expansion through more than 20 to 25 population triplings, indicating a capacity for self-renewal. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the artery wall contains cells that have the potential for multiple lineages similar to mesenchymal stem cells but with a unique differentiation repertoire.

Animals↗

Mineral exploration: search for the mechanism of vascular calcification and beyond: the 2003 Jeffrey M. Hoeg Award lecture.

Research in the area of vascular calcification has grown rapidly in the past decade, and there is a greater understanding of its active regulatory mechanisms. This brief review covers the ideas presented in the 2003 Jeffrey M. Hoeg Award lecture, including the concepts that bone tissue forms in the artery wall in patients with atherosclerosis, that vascular cells undergo osteoblastic differentiation, that bone morphogenetic protein and matrix GLA protein regulate vascular calcification in opposition, that inflammatory cytokines and lipids promote vascular cell calcification but inhibit osteoblastic cell differentiation, that these same factors promote differentiation of bone-resorbing osteoclasts, and that the artery wall may contain osteoclast-like cells with the potential to resorb calcium mineral. The review closes with a mention of therapeutic possibilities and an evolutionary paradigm to explain the reciprocal responses of vascular and bone mineralization to inflammation.

Animals↗

High-density lipoprotein regulates calcification of vascular cells.

Accumulating evidence has suggested the protective role of HDL in cardiovascular disease processes. Calcification is a common feature of atherosclerotic lesions and contributes to cardiovascular complications due to the loss of aortic resilience and function. Recent studies have suggested that vascular calcification shares several features with skeletal bone formation at the cellular and molecular levels. These include the presence of osteoblast-like calcifying vascular cells in the artery wall that undergo osteoblastic differentiation and calcification in vitro. We hypothesized that HDL may also protect against vascular calcification by regulating the osteogenic activity of these calcifying vascular cells. When treated with HDL, alkaline phosphatase activity, a marker of osteogenic differentiation of osteoblastic cells, was significantly reduced in those cells. Prolonged treatment with HDL also inhibited calcification of these cells, further supporting the antiosteogenic differentiation property of HDL when applied to vascular cells. Furthermore, HDL inhibited the osteogenic activity that was induced by inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-6 as well as by minimally oxidized LDL. HDL also partially inhibited the IL-6-induced activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 in calcifying vascular cells, suggesting that HDL may inhibit cytokine-induced signal transduction pathways. The inhibitory effects of HDL were mimicked by lipids extracted from HDL but not by HDL-associated apolipoproteins or reconstituted HDL. Furthermore, oxidation of HDL rendered it pro-osteogenic. Taken together, these results suggest that HDL regulates the osteoblastic differentiation and calcification of vascular cells and that vascular calcification may be another target of HDL action in the artery wall.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

Monocyte/macrophage regulation of vascular calcification in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Calcification is a common complication of atherosclerosis and other chronic inflammatory processes that involves infiltration of monocytes and accumulation of macrophages. METHODS AND RESULTS: To determine whether these cells modulate vascular calcification in vitro, calcifying vascular cells (CVCs), a subpopulation of osteoblast-like cells derived from the artery wall, were cocultured with human peripheral blood monocytes for 5 days. Results showed that alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, a marker of osteoblastic differentiation, was significantly greater in cocultures than in cultures of CVCs or monocytes alone. Both ALP activity and matrix mineralization increased in proportion to the number of monocytes added. Activation of monocyte/macrophages (M/Ms) by oxidized LDL further increased ALP activity in cocultures. However, neither conditioned medium from oxidized-LDL-activated M/Ms or transwell coculture had this effect on CVCs, which suggests a need for cell-to-cell contact. In contrast, conditioned medium from lipopolysaccharide-activated M/Ms increased ALP activity of CVCs. ELISA showed that lipopolysaccharide-activated M/Ms secreted tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and neutralizing antibody to tumor necrosis factor-alpha attenuated the induction of ALP activity by the conditioned media. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that M/Ms enhance in vitro vascular calcification via 2 independent mechanisms: cell-cell interaction and production of soluble factors such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

8-Isoprostaglandin E2 enhances receptor-activated NFkappa B ligand (RANKL)-dependent osteoclastic potential of marrow hematopoietic precursors via the cAMP pathway.

Lipid oxidation products promote atherosclerosis and may also affect osteoporosis. We showed previously that oxidized lipids including 8-isoprostaglandin E2 (isoPGE2) inhibit osteoblastic differentiation of preosteoblasts. Since osteoporosis is mediated both by decreased osteoblastic bone formation and by increased osteoclastic bone resorption, we assessed whether oxidized lipids regulate the osteoclastic potential of marrow hematopoietic cells. Treatment of marrow-derived preosteoclasts with isoPGE2 enhanced osteoclastic differentiation as evidenced by increased tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity and multinucleation, which were inhibited by calcitonin, and increased numbers of resorption pits. The enhanced osteoclastic differentiation by isoPGE2 was observed whether preosteoclasts were in coculture with stromal cells or in monoculture in the presence of receptor-activated NFkappaB ligand (RANKL) and macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Receptor antagonist studies suggest that isoPGE2 effects were mediated by prostaglandin receptor subtypes EP2/DP on preosteoclasts and subtype EP1 and thromboxane receptors on stromal/osteoblast cells. The enhanced TRAP activity was also inhibited by cAMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitors, and isoPGE2 elevated intracellular cAMP levels of preosteoclast monocultures. Other oxidized lipids also enhanced the TRAP activity of preosteoclast monocultures. These data suggest that isoPGE2 enhances osteoclastic differentiation of marrow preosteoclasts and that this regulation occurs via the cAMP-dependent protein kinase pathway.

Actins↗

Novel mechanisms in accelerated vascular calcification in renal disease patients.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Vascular calcification occurs more often and earlier in patients with end-stage renal disease than in normal controls. It is a regulated biological process following many of the cellular and molecular programs in osteogenesis. This review summarizes some of the regulatory mechanisms that may explain its severity in renal patients. RECENT FINDINGS: A subpopulation of cells from arteries and cardiac valves produce a mineralizing matrix and undergo osteoblastic differentiation. Osteogenic differentiation regulators are found in calcified but not normal arteries. Phosphate levels have dramatic effects on vascular calcification in vitro, through a sodium phosphate transporter signaling molecular changes. Atherogenic oxidized lipids promote osteoblastic differentiation of vascular cells and inhibit bone mineralization. In uremic patients, the severity of dyslipidemia corresponds with the progression of vascular calcification. Oxidative stress and inflammatory mediators may underlie the effects of oxidized lipids. In dialysis patients, the degree of cardiac valvular calcification corresponds with levels of C-reactive protein. Genetic factors may also contribute. Polymorphisms of the inflammatory adhesion molecule, E-selectin, associate with coronary calcification in young women. Mice deficient in matrix GLA protein, which inhibits bone morphogenetic protein activity, develop complete ossification of the aorta, presumably as a result of unopposed osteogenic activity on vascular mesenchyme. Since matrix GLA protein function requires gamma-carboxylation of its glutamate residues by a vitamin K dependent carboxylase, warfarin treatment may affect vascular calcification by blocking vitamin K and hence matrix GLA protein activity. SUMMARY: These findings indicate that vascular calcification is regulated both positively and negatively by a wide variety of mechanisms affecting patients with renal disease.

Animals↗

Role of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway in osteoblastic differentiation of marrow stromal cells.

Cholesterol is an important molecule that plays a key role in regulating cellular differentiation and function. Although the possible role of lipids has been implicated in regulating osteoblastic cells, the role of cholesterol in that process is not well defined. In this study we have examined the role of the cellular cholesterol biosynthetic pathway on osteoblastic differentiation of marrow stromal cells (MSCs). Treatment of pluripotent mouse MSCs M2-10B4 with inhibitors of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway mevastatin or mevinolin inhibited the maturation of these cells into functional osteoblastic cells. This was determined by the inhibition of the activity and expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), a key enzyme involved in differentiation and mineralization of osteoblastic cell cultures, as well as inhibition of mineralization. Mevastatin treatment did not affect expression of the osteoblast-specific gene osteocalcin (OCN). Furthermore, promoter-reporter studies in MSCs showed that mevastatin inhibited activity of the ALP gene promoter, suggesting regulation by derivatives of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. The effects of mevastatin and mevinolin were reversed by mevalonate but not by geranylgeraniol or farnesol, intermediates in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. Altogether, these results suggest that products of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway are important for proper development of MSCs into functional osteoblastic cells capable of forming a mineralized matrix. Identification of those molecules may provide new therapeutic approaches to prevent the decline in osteoblastic activity in osteoporosis and aging.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗