1. Academic Validation
  2. Deficiency of Axl aggravates pulmonary arterial hypertension via BMPR2

Deficiency of Axl aggravates pulmonary arterial hypertension via BMPR2

  • Commun Biol. 2021 Aug 24;4(1):1002. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02531-1.
Tatyana Novoyatleva 1 Nabham Rai 2 Baktybek Kojonazarov 2 3 Swathi Veeroju 2 Isabel Ben-Batalla 4 5 Paola Caruso 6 Mazen Shihan 2 Nadine Presser 2 Elsa Götz 2 Carina Lepper 2 Sebastian Herpel 2 Grégoire Manaud 7 Frédéric Perros 7 Henning Gall 2 Hossein Ardeschir Ghofrani 2 Norbert Weissmann 2 Friedrich Grimminger 2 John Wharton 8 Martin Wilkins 8 Paul D Upton 6 Sonja Loges 4 5 Nicholas W Morrell 6 Werner Seeger 2 9 Ralph T Schermuly 10
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Universities of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center (UGMLC), Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary System (ECCPS), Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany. tatyana.novoyatleva@innere.med.uni-giessen.de.
  • 2 Universities of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center (UGMLC), Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary System (ECCPS), Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.
  • 3 Institute for Lung Health, Giessen, Germany.
  • 4 Department of Oncology, Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation with section Pneumology, Hubertus Wald University Comprehensive Cancer Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
  • 5 Department of Tumor Biology, Center of Experimental Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
  • 6 Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
  • 7 Université Paris-Saclay, AP-HP, INSERM UMR_S 999, Service de Pneumologie et Soins Intensifs Respiratoires, Hôpital de Bicêtre, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France.
  • 8 Centre for Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.
  • 9 Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany.
  • 10 Universities of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center (UGMLC), Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary System (ECCPS), Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany. ralph.schermuly@innere.med.uni-giessen.de.
Abstract

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), is a fatal disease characterized by a pseudo-malignant phenotype. We investigated the expression and the role of the receptor tyrosine kinase Axl in experimental (i.e., monocrotaline and Su5416/hypoxia treated rats) and clinical PAH. In vitro Axl inhibition by R428 and Axl knock-down inhibited growth factor-driven proliferation and migration of non-PAH and PAH PASMCs. Conversely, Axl overexpression conferred a growth advantage. Axl declined in PAECs of PAH patients. Axl blockage inhibited BMP9 signaling and increased PAEC Apoptosis, while BMP9 induced Axl phosphorylation. Gas6 induced SMAD1/5/8 phosphorylation and ID1/ID2 increase were blunted by BMP signaling obstruction. Axl association with BMPR2 was facilitated by Gas6/BMP9 stimulation and diminished by R428. In vivo R428 aggravated right ventricular hypertrophy and dysfunction, abrogated BMPR2 signaling, elevated pulmonary endothelial cell Apoptosis and loss. Together, Axl is a key regulator of endothelial BMPR2 signaling and potential determinant of PAH.

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