Sphingosine 1-phosphate-regulated transcriptomes in heterogenous arterial and lymphatic endothelium of the aorta
Abstract
Despite the medical importance of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), in vivo cellular heterogeneity of GPCR signaling and downstream transcriptional responses are not understood. We report the comprehensive characterization of transcriptomes (bulk and single-cell) and chromatin domains regulated by sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor-1 (S1PR1) in adult mouse aortic endothelial cells. First, S1PR1 regulates NFkB and nuclear glucocorticoid receptor pathways to suppress inflammation-related mRNAs. Second, S1PR1 signaling in the heterogenous endothelial cell (EC) subtypes occurs at spatially-distinct areas of the aorta. For example, a transcriptomically distinct arterial EC population at vascular branch points (aEC1) exhibits ligand-independent S1PR1/β-arrestin coupling. In contrast, circulatory S1P-dependent S1PR1/β-arrestin coupling was observed in non-branch point aEC2 cells that exhibit an inflammatory gene expression signature. Moreover, S1P/S1PR1 signaling regulates the expression of lymphangiogenic and inflammation-related transcripts in an adventitial lymphatic EC (LEC) population in a ligand-dependent manner. These insights add resolution to existing concepts of GPCR signaling and S1P biology.
Data availability
Sequencing data and processed files have been deposited in GEO under the accession GSE139065.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R35 HL135821)
- Timothy Hla
Fondation Leducq (SphingoNet Transatlantic Network Grant)
- Richard L Proia
- Eric Camerer
- Christer Betsholtz
- Timothy Hla
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (Intramural program support)
- Richard L Proia
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Reviewing Editor
- Victoria L Bautch, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
Ethics
Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. All of the animals were handled according to approved institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) protocols (#16-10-3297) of the Boston Children's Hospital. All surgery was performed under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia, and every effort was made to minimize suffering.
Version history
- Received: October 12, 2019
- Accepted: February 22, 2020
- Accepted Manuscript published: February 24, 2020 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: March 3, 2020 (version 2)
Copyright
This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
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Further reading
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- Chromosomes and Gene Expression
- Genetics and Genomics
Endothelial cell subpopulations are characterized by unique gene expression profiles, epigenetic landscapes and functional properties.
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- Cell Biology
- Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Histone H1 participates in chromatin condensation and regulates nuclear processes. Human somatic cells may contain up to seven histone H1 variants, although their functional heterogeneity is not fully understood. Here, we have profiled the differential nuclear distribution of the somatic H1 repertoire in human cells through imaging techniques including super-resolution microscopy. H1 variants exhibit characteristic distribution patterns in both interphase and mitosis. H1.2, H1.3, and H1.5 are universally enriched at the nuclear periphery in all cell lines analyzed and co-localize with compacted DNA. H1.0 shows a less pronounced peripheral localization, with apparent variability among different cell lines. On the other hand, H1.4 and H1X are distributed throughout the nucleus, being H1X universally enriched in high-GC regions and abundant in the nucleoli. Interestingly, H1.4 and H1.0 show a more peripheral distribution in cell lines lacking H1.3 and H1.5. The differential distribution patterns of H1 suggest specific functionalities in organizing lamina-associated domains or nucleolar activity, which is further supported by a distinct response of H1X or phosphorylated H1.4 to the inhibition of ribosomal DNA transcription. Moreover, H1 variants depletion affects chromatin structure in a variant-specific manner. Concretely, H1.2 knock-down, either alone or combined, triggers a global chromatin decompaction. Overall, imaging has allowed us to distinguish H1 variants distribution beyond the segregation in two groups denoted by previous ChIP-Seq determinations. Our results support H1 variants heterogeneity and suggest that variant-specific functionality can be shared between different cell types.