GDF15 secreted by senescent endothelial cells improves vascular progenitor cell functions

PLoS One. 2019 May 10;14(5):e0216602. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216602. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Endothelial dysfunction (ED) is part of the first steps in the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF15) is a cytokine belonging to the Transforming Growth Factor β superfamily and its expression is increased both during ED and in CVD. Because high blood levels of GDF15 have been reported during ED, we hypothesized that GDF15 could be produced by endothelial cells in response to a vascular stress, possibly to attenuate endothelial function loss. Since senescence is mainly involved in both vascular stress and endothelial function loss, we used Endothelial Colony Forming Cells generated from adult blood (AB-ECFCs) as a model of endothelial cells to investigate GDF15 expression during cellular senescence. Then, we analyzed the potential role of GDF15 in AB-ECFC functions and senescence. When AB-ECFCs become senescent, they secrete increased levels of GDF15. We investigated GDF15 paracrine effects on non-senescent AB-ECFCs and showed that GDF15 enhanced proliferation, migration, NO production and activated several signaling pathways including AKT, ERK1/2 and SMAD2 without triggering any oxidative stress. Taken together, our results suggest that GDF15 production by senescent AB-ECFCs could act in a paracrine manner on non-senescent AB-ECFCs, and that this interaction could be beneficial to its model cells. Therefore, GDF15 could play a beneficial role in a dysfunctional vascular system as previously reported in patients with CVD, by limiting ED related to vascular stress occurring in these diseases.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Blood Cells / cytology*
  • Blood Cells / metabolism
  • Cell Movement
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Cell Survival
  • Cellular Senescence
  • Endothelial Cells / cytology*
  • Endothelial Cells / metabolism
  • Growth Differentiation Factor 15 / genetics*
  • Growth Differentiation Factor 15 / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nitric Oxide / metabolism
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Signal Transduction
  • Up-Regulation
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • GDF15 protein, human
  • Growth Differentiation Factor 15
  • Nitric Oxide

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.