CD38 deficiency alleviates Ang II-induced vascular remodeling by inhibiting small extracellular vesicle-mediated vascular smooth muscle cell senescence in mice

Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2021 Jun 11;6(1):223. doi: 10.1038/s41392-021-00625-0.

Abstract

CD38 is the main enzyme for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) degradation in mammalian cells. Decreased NAD levels are closely related to metabolic syndromes and aging-related diseases. Our study showed that CD38 deficiency significantly alleviated angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced vascular remodeling in mice, as shown by decreased blood pressures; reduced vascular media thickness, media-to-lumen ratio, and collagen deposition; and restored elastin expression. However, our bone marrow transplantation assay showed that CD38 deficiency in lymphocytes led to lack of protection against Ang II-induced vascular remodeling, suggesting that the effects of CD38 on Ang II-induced vascular remodeling might rely primarily on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), not lymphocytes. In addition, we observed that CD38 deficiency or NAD supplementation remarkably mitigated Ang II-induced vascular senescence by suppressing the biogenesis, secretion, and internalization of senescence-associated small extracellular vesicles (SA-sEVs), which facilitated the senescence of neighboring non-damaged VSMCs. Furthermore, we found that the protective effects of CD38 deficiency on VSMC senescence were related to restoration of lysosome dysfunction, particularly with respect to the maintenance of sirtuin-mediated mitochondrial homeostasis and activation of the mitochondria-lysosomal axis in VSMCs. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that CD38 and its associated intracellular NAD decline are critical for Ang II-induced VSMC senescence and vascular remodeling.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1 / antagonists & inhibitors
  • ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1 / genetics*
  • Angiotensin II / pharmacology
  • Animals
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Cellular Senescence / genetics*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Extracellular Vesicles / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Hypertension / chemically induced
  • Hypertension / genetics*
  • Hypertension / pathology
  • Membrane Glycoproteins / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Membrane Glycoproteins / genetics*
  • Mice
  • Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / drug effects
  • Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / metabolism
  • Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / drug effects
  • Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / metabolism
  • Oxidative Stress / drug effects
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Vascular Remodeling / drug effects
  • Vascular Remodeling / genetics*

Substances

  • Membrane Glycoproteins
  • Angiotensin II
  • Cd38 protein, mouse
  • ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1