Abstract
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a devastating and progressive disease with limited treatment options. Endothelial dysfunction plays a central role in the development and progression of PAH, yet the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. The endosome-lysosome system is important to maintain cellular health, and the small GTPase RAB7 regulates many functions of this system. Here, we explored the role of RAB7 in endothelial cell (EC) function and lung vascular homeostasis. We found reduced expression of RAB7 in ECs from patients with PAH. Endothelial haploinsufficiency of RAB7 caused spontaneous pulmonary hypertension (PH) in mice. Silencing of RAB7 in ECs induced broad changes in gene expression revealed via RNA-Seq, and RAB7-silenced ECs showed impaired angiogenesis and expansion of a senescent cell fraction, combined with impaired endolysosomal trafficking and degradation, suggesting inhibition of autophagy at the predegradation level. Furthermore, mitochondrial membrane potential and oxidative phosphorylation were decreased, and glycolysis was enhanced. Treatment with the RAB7 activator ML-098 reduced established PH in rats with chronic hypoxia/SU5416. In conclusion, we demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge the fundamental impairment of EC function by loss of RAB7, causing PH, and show RAB7 activation to be a potential therapeutic strategy in a preclinical model of PH.
Recommended Citation
B. Piper and S. Bogamuwa and T. Hossain and D. Farkas and L. Rosas and A. C. Green and G. Newcomb and N. Sun and J. A. Ovando-Ricardez and J. C. Horowitz and A. R. Bhagwani and H. Yang and T. V. Kudryashova and M. Rojas, "RAB7 Deficiency Impairs Pulmonary Artery Endothelial Function And Promotes Pulmonary Hypertension," Journal of Clinical Investigation, vol. 134, no. 3, pp. 1 - 10, article no. e169441, American Society for Clinical Investigation, Feb 2024.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI169441
Department(s)
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Publication Status
Open Access
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1558-8238; 0021-9738
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2024 The Authors, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Publication Date
10 Feb 2024
PubMed ID
38015641
Comments
National Institutes of Health, Grant grantP30CA016058