Figure 3. eNOS, a known endothelial protective gene, is differentially expressed based on SCD/ACS disease status.
eNOS expression was evaluated in endothelial cells 24 hours after exposure to exosomes from patients with HgbSS, >10 years of age. A. Exosomes from ACS(−) patients elicited a 50% increase in eNOS mRNA compared to controls, while exosomes from ACS(+) patients do not induce increased eNOS expression. Within the ACS(+) group, those that exhibited more endothelial damage on ECIS also induced lower eNOS responses in naïve endothelium. B. eNOS expression partially correlates with normalized resistance at 36 hours. (r2 = 0.2052)