Endothelial cells (ECs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, especially atherosclerosis (AS). The abnormal wall shear stress (WSS) which directly contacts with ECs is the key stimulating factor leading to AS. However, the underlying mechanism of ECs responding to WSS is still incompletely understood. This study aims to explore the novel mechano-sensitive genes and its potential mechanism in response to WSS in ECs by employing bioinformatics methods based on previously available high-throughput data from zebrafish embryos, both before and after blood flow formation. Six common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (SRGN, SLC12A3, SLC25A4, PVALB1, ITGAE.2, zgc:198419) were selected out from two high-throughput datasets (GSE126617 and GSE20707) in the GEO database. Among them, SRGN was chosen for further verification through the in vitro shear stress loading experiments with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the in vivo partial ligation of carotid artery in mice. Our data indicated that low shear stress (LSS) could enhance the expression of SRGN via the PKA/CREB-dependent signaling pathway. The proportion of Ki67+ cells and the concentration of nitric oxide (NO) were high in SRGN high expression cells, suggesting that SRGN may be involved in the proliferation of HUVECs. Furthermore, in the partial ligation of the carotid artery mice model, we observed that the expression of SRGN was significantly increased in atherosclerotic plaques induced by abnormal shear stress. Taken together, this study demonstrated that SRGN is a key gene in the response of ECs to WSS and could be involved in AS.
Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Bioinformatics; Endothelial cells; SRGN; Shear stress.