Secretogranin III promotes angiogenesis through MEK/ERK signaling pathway

Abstract

Secretogranin III (Scg3) was recently discovered as the first highly diabetic retinopathy-associated angiogenic factor, and its neutralizing antibody alleviated the disease with high efficacy in diabetic mice. Investigation of its molecular mechanisms will facilitate the translation of this novel therapy. Scg3 was reported to induce the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Here we characterized the importance of MEK/ERK activation to Scg3 angiogenic activity. Our results showed that MEK inhibitor PD98059 blocked Scg3-induced proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). This finding was corroborated by PD98059 inhibition of HUVEC migration and tube formation. Furthermore, ERK inhibitor SCH772984 also suppressed Scg3-induced proliferation and migration of HUVECs. Taken together, these findings suggest that MEK-ERK pathway plays an important role in Scg3-induced angiogenesis.

Graphical Abstract

Introduction

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of vision loss in working adults, afflicting more than 93 million patients worldwide [1]. Diabetic macular edema (DME) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) are two vision-threatening forms of the disease, affecting ~21 and ~17 million people, respectively [1]. Angiogenic factors play an important role in DR pathogenesis by inducing retinal vascular leakage in DME and retinal neovascularization in PDR [2]. The approval of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors, ranibizumab and aflibercept highlights a major advance in DR therapy [3]. However, ~20%–40% of DR patients may have poor response to anti-VEGF therapy and require additional laser treatment or intravitreal glucocorticoid therapy [4]. Given that steroids may cause significant adverse effects [4], developing novel therapies against other angiogenic targets is important for DR patients with poor response to anti-VEGF.

Secretogranin III (Scg3) was recently discovered as a novel angiogenic factor whose activity is highly restricted to diabetic condition [5]. Among thousands of identified ligands, Scg3 has the highest binding activity ratio to diabetic vs. control retinal endothelium (1,731:0) and lowest binding to normal vessels. Accordingly, Scg3-induced angiogenesis of diabetic but not normal vessels [5]. In contrast, VEGF bound to and promoted angiogenesis of both diabetic and control vasculature [5]. Scg3 does not bind to or activate VEGF receptors (VEGFRs). Scg3 does not induce the expression of VEGF, or vice versa [5]. These findings suggest that Scg3 is a VEGF-independent angiogenic factor, implying that Scg3 is a promising target to develop alternative anti-angiogenesis therapy for DR. Indeed, Scg3-neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb) was demonstrated with high efficacy to alleviate retinal vascular leakage in diabetic mice [5].

Given that Scg3 has the potential to become an important anti-angiogenic therapy with unique disease selectivity, delineation of its molecular mechanisms will facilitate the translation of this novel therapy. Our recent study revealed that Scg3 activated mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway [5]. This pathway has been previously reported to be important to VEGF-mediated angiogenesis activity [6, 7]. However, MEK/ERK can be activated via different receptors to regulate diverse cellular processes [8]. Here we investigate whether MER/ERK pathway activated by Scg3 is critical to its angiogenic activity.

Material and methods

Materials

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were purchased from Lonza and used for experiments at passage 4–8. Complete classic medium kit with culture boost and attachment factor (CSC, #4 Z0-500) was obtained from Cell Systems. EBM-2 medium (#CC3156) was from Lonza. Pen/Strep (100X) was from Thermo Fisher. Fetal bovine serum (FBS) and trypsin/EDTA were from HyClone. Recombinant human VEGF-165 (#293-VE-010/CF) was from R&D Systems. Human Scg3 (#16012-H08H) was from Sino Biological. PD98059 (#HY-12028) and SCH772984 (#HY-50846) were from MedChem Express.

Cell proliferation assay

HUVECs were seeded at 5,000 cells/well in 48-well plates precoated with attachment factor and cultured in complete CSC medium supplemented with 1X Pen/Strep overnight. Cells were treated with MEK inhibitor PD98059 (10 μM), ERK inhibitor SCH772984 (500 nM) or vehicle control (DMSO, 0.1%, v/v) for 2 h in EBM-2 medium supplemented with 4% FBS, followed by incubation with VEGF (100 ng/ml), Scg3 (1 μg/ml) or PBS control [5]. After culturing for 48 h, cells were collected by trypsin digestion, suspended in PBS with 1 mM trypan blue and counted with a hemocytometer.

Transwell migration assay

Endothelial cell transwell migration assay was carried out, as recently described [9]. Briefly, HUVECs were pretreated with MEK inhibitor PD98059 (10 μM), ERK inhibitor SCH772984 (500 nM) or mock control for 2 h, and collected with trypsin/EDTA digestion. After washing, cells were suspended in EBM-2 medium supplemented with 2% FBS and seeded (5 × 10⁴ cells/well, 100 μl/well) in upper chambers of transwell inserts in 24-well plates (Corning #3422, 8 μm pore). VEGF or Scg3 at indicated concentration were diluted in EBM-2 medium with 2% FBS, and added to lower chambers (600 μl/well). After culturing for 20 h in the presence or absence of the cognate inhibitor, transwell inserts were removed from the apparatus, and fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde for 10 min. Cells on the upper surface of the inserts were removed by wiping with cotton swabs, followed by washing with PBS. Filter membranes were cut off from inserts, stained with DAPI, analyzed by fluorescence microscopy to quantify migrated cells on the lower surface. Cell numbers were counted in 6 randomly-selected viewing fields per insert.

Wound-healing migration assay

The assay was performed as previously described [5, 10]. HUVECs were seeded in precoated 6-well plates, cultured to 90%–100% and starved in EBM-2 medium with 0.2% serum for 3 h. Scratched lines were created using 200-μl pipette tips. Floating cells were removed with PBS. After incubation with PD98059 (10 μM) or mock control for 2 h in EBM-2 medium with reduced FBS, cells were further incubated with VEGF or Scg3 at indicated concentrations for additional 20 h. Images were taken under a light microscope at 0 and 20 h (before and after growth factor treatment). Wound closure was analyzed by counting cells migrated into the denuded region.

Tube formation assay

The assay was performed as previously described [5, 10]. In brief, 96-well plates were precoated with Matrigel (50 μl/well), which was allowed to solidify at 37°C for 60 min. HUVECs were starved in EBM-2 medium with 0.2% FBS overnight, and then were pretreated with PD98059 (10 μM) or mock control for 2 h. Cells were harvested, resuspended and plated on Matrigel (15,000 cells/well) with the MEK inhibitor, followed by 20-h incubation VEGF or Scg3 at indicated concentrations in EBM-2 medium with 2% FBS. Cells were analyzed using a phase-contrast microscope to quantify total tube length, tube number and branching point.

Statistical analysis

All values are presented as mean ± SEM. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA test or Student’s t-test. Results were considered significant when p<0.05.

Results

MEK and ERK inhibitors suppress Scg3-induced endothelial proliferation

Because of its disease selectivity, Scg3 receptor expression in non-diabetic HUVECs is relatively low [5]. Therefore, we performed endothelial proliferation assay with VEGF (100 ng/ml) and Scg3 (1 μg/ml). At this high concentration, Scg3 significantly stimulated HUVEC proliferation (Fig. 1), consistent with a recent study [5].

Fig. 1.

MER/ERK inhibitors block Scg3-induced endothelial proliferation. HUVECs in medium with reduced FBS were treated with MEK inhibitor PD98059 (10 μM) or ERK inhibitor SCH772984 (500 nM), and cultured for 48 h in the presence or absence of VEGF or Scg3. ± SEM, n=6 wells, one-way ANOVA test, **p<0.01, n/s for not significant.

To determine whether ERK is critically involved in Scg3-induced endothelial proliferation, we pretreated HUVECs with ERK inhibitor SCH772984, followed by stimulation with VEGF or Scg3. To exclude the possible cytotoxic effects of the inhibitor on endothelial cells, we compared the groups treated with or without SCH772984. Quantification of trypan blue-stained cells revealed that exposure to the ERK inhibitor for 48 h at 500 nM induced no detectable cytotoxicity on HUVECs (Fig. 1). ERK inhibition blocked endothelial proliferation induced by both VEGF and Scg3. These results suggest that ERK activation is important to Scg3-mediated angiogenesis.

MEK is an upstream regulator of ERK [11]. To validate the above findings, we analyzed the effects of MEK inhibitor PD98059. Similarly, we found that PD98059 alone did not induce cytotoxicity (Fig. 1). PD98059 treatment inhibited VEGF- or Scg3-induced HUVEC proliferation. Together, these findings suggest that MEK/ERK pathway plays a pivotal role in Scg3-mediated angiogenesis.

MER and ERK inhibitors block Scg3-induced endothelial migration

Migration capacity of endothelial cells is an important characteristic of angiogenesis. Scg3 was reported to stimulate endothelial migration in a recent study [5]. To investigate whether MEK/ERK pathways plays a critical role in Scg3-induced migration, we first performed the transwell migration assay to determine the effect of PD98059 and SCH772984 on HUVECs. As shown in Fig. 2A, after incubation in EBM2 with 2% FBS for 20 h, there was only a few cells migrated from the upper chamber to the lower chamber in the control group. When added to the bottom chamber, VEGF significantly stimulated the migration of HUVECs at 4 and 20 h (Fig. 2B, C). VEGF-induced cell migration was reduced by 55% (p<0.05) and 35% (p>0.5) at 4 h with the treatment of PD98059 and SCH772984, respectively. These numbers were reduced by 72% (PD98059, p<0.0001) and 70% (SCH772984, p<0.0001) at 20 h. However, none of inhibitors significantly blocked Scg3-induced HUVEC migration at 4 h. Only at 20 h, PD98059 and SCH772984 significantly suppressed Scg3-induced endothelial migration by 66% (p<0.0001) and 60% (p<0.001) (Fig. 2). The results suggest that either MEK or ERK inhibitor can markedly block Scg3-induced transwell migration at 20 h but not 4 h.

Fig. 2.

MEK/ERK inhibitors suppress Scg3-induced endothelial migration in transwell assay. (A) Representative images of migrated cells. HUVECs were pretreated with PD98059 (10 μM), SCH772984 (500 nM) or mock control for 2 h, and seeded in upper chambers of transwell inserts. VEGF (100 ng/ml), Scg3 (1 μg/ml) or PBS in medium with reduced FBS was added to bottom chambers in the presence or absence of the inhibitor. After culturing for 4 or 20 h, cells migrated to the lower surface of transwell membrane were stained with DAPI. Bar=50 μm. Quantification of migrated cells at 4 h (B) (n=5) or 20 h (C) (n=6). ± SEM, one-way ANOVA test, *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001, ****p<0.0001.

To independently verify the above findings, we performed additional wound-healing assay to quantify the effect of MEK inhibitor PD98059 on Scg3-induced HUVECs migration, as previously described [5, 10]. Our results showed that both VEGF and Scg3 significantly induced the number of migrated cells in the denuded area by 3.2-fold (p<0.001) and 1.6-fold (p<0.01) (Fig. 3). MEK inhibitor PD98059 markedly reduced VEGF- and Scg3-induced endothelial migration (p<0.05 for both).

Fig. 3.

Inhibition of MEK reduces Scg3-induced HUVEC migration in wound-healing assay. (A) Representative images of cells before and after migration. The vertical line indicated the wound edge. HUVECs were pretreated with PD98059 (10 μM) for 2 h and then cultured in medium with reduced FBS in the presence or absence of VEGF (100 ng/ml) or Scg3 (1 μg/ml) for 20 h. Bar=50 μm. (B) Quantification of cells migrated into the denuded area. ± SEM, n=6, one-way ANOVA test.

MEK inhibitor suppresses Scg3-induced tube formation

Our recent study demonstrated that Scg3 induces endothelial cells capillary tube formation [5], which is closely related to angiogenesis. To further validate the important role of MER/ERK signaling in Scg3-induced angiogenesis, we characterized the effect of MEK inhibitor PD98059. Our data revealed that both VEGF (100 ng/ml) and Scg3 (1 μg/ml) significantly induced tube formation in term of tube length, tube number and branching points (Fig. 4). PD98059 inhibited VEGF- or Scg3-induced tube formation, as determined by total tube length, tube number and branching points. These results suggest that Scg3 may increase capillary tube formation via activating MEK/ERK signaling pathway.

Fig. 4.

MEK inhibitor blocks endothelial tube formation. (A) Representative images of tube formation. HUVECs were pretreated with or without PD98059 (10 μM) and cultured on Matrigel in the presence or absence of VEGF (100 ng/ml) or Scg3 (1 μg/ml) for 20 h. Bar =50 μm. (B) Quantification of total tube length per viewing field. (C) Quantification of tube numbers per viewing field. (D) Quantification of branching points per viewing filed. n=4 viewing fields. ± SEM, one-way ANOVA test.

Discussion

In this study, we validated the recent finding of Scg3 as an angiogenic factor [5] and provided new molecular insights into the intracellular signaling triggered by Scg3 in HUVECs for cell proliferation, migration and capillary tube formation. We found that MEK/ERK pathway is critical to Scg3-induced pro-angiogenic intracellular signaling.

Scg3 belongs to the granin family, which is composed of chromogranin A (CgA), CgB, and secretogranin II–VIII (Scg2–8) [12]. Granins regulate a broad spectrum of biological activities, including secretion, metabolism, vascular homeostasis, blood pressure, cardiac function, cell adhesion and migration, and innate immunity [13–15]. Predominantly expressed in endocrine, neuroendocrine and neuronal cells [12], Scg3 was initially discovered as an intravesicular protein that regulates the biogenesis of secretory granules [16]. However, deletion of the Scg3 gene in mice results in a normal phenotype with minimal effects on the secretion of many important hormones, such as insulin and growth hormone [17]. This finding suggests that the role of Scg3 in regulating secretion may be functionally compensated by other granin family members.

Scg3 was recently discovered as a novel angiogenesis growth factor in a mouse model of DR using an innovative technology of comparative ligandomics [5]. In the granin family, CgA-derived catestain and Scg2-derived secretoneurin were reported with angiogenic activity, whereas full-length CgA and its cleaved peptide catestain are potent angiogenesis inhibitors [12, 14, 18]. Given that Scg3 shares minimal amino acid sequence homology with its family members, Scg3 and other granins may regulate angiogenesis through different receptors and pathways [12].

Scg3 is a newly-discovered angiogenic factor. However, its molecular mechanism of action remains poorly understood. While conventional angiogenic factors (e.g., VEGF) are typically discovered and verified based on their functional activity in normal vessels, Scg3 selectively binds and stimulates angiogenesis of diabetic but not healthy vasculature [5]. The distinct binding and angiogenic activity patterns of Scg3 and VEGF in diabetic and normal vessels imply that Scg3 may have a receptor pathway distinctively different from conventional angiogenic factors. Indeed, we found that Scg3 does not bind to or activate VEGFRs [5]. VEGF induces the phosphorylation of MEK, ERK, Akt, Src and Stat3, whereas Scg3 activates MEK, ERK, and Src, but not Akt and Stat3 [5]. These findings suggest that intracellular signaling pathways of Scg3 and VEGF may partially converge from different receptors to regulate common angiogenic processes, such as endothelial proliferation, migration, and tube formation.

ERK1/2 are serine/threonine protein kinases, which are critically involved in regulation of many biological processes, including cell adhesion, cell differentiation, transcription, metabolism, cell survival, migration and proliferation [19]. Subcellular locations of ERK1/2 determine the downstream signaling cascades and cellular responses [20]. MEK/ERK pathway can be activated by different receptors, such as receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and integrins [8]. VEGFR1, 2 and 3 are RRKs that activate multiple intracellular signaling pathways, including MEK/ERK, Akt, Src and Stat3 [21, 22]. There is evidence that MEK/ERK pathway plays a critical role in VEGF-induced angiogenesis by promoting endothelial proliferation, migration and survival [6, 23]. Moreover, inhibition of MER/ERK suppresses VEGF-induced endothelial proliferation [24].

Similar to VEGF, Scg3 may also activate multiple intracellular signaling pathways, such as MEK/ERK and Src kinases. Previous studies suggest that Src activation may induce vascular permeability [22, 25]. Although it is difficult to determine how many other pathways may be activated by Scg3, the results of this study suggest that MEK/ERK pathway plays an important role in Scg3-mediated angiogenic activity. This knowledge will help provide in-depth understanding of Scg3 molecular mechanisms and develop new strategies for anti-Scg3 therapy by blocking its intracellular signaling cascades.

Perhaps, the most critical step toward the comprehensive understanding of Scg3 mechanisms is to identify its unknown receptor. Characterization of MEK/ERK as a critical signaling cascade in this study implies that Scg3 receptor may be among RTKs, GPCRs or integrins. The challenge is that these three groups represent a large number of receptors.

Scg3 is the first highly diabetes-restricted angiogenic factor with undetectable binding and angiogenic activity in normal vessels. Its binding activity to diabetic vasculature increases by >1,700-fold, highlighting its remarkable disease selectivity. Scg3-neutralizing mAb was demonstrated with high efficacy to alleviate DR leakage in diabetic mice and pathological retinal neovascularization in oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) mice, a surrogate animal model of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Therapies against Scg3 and its signaling pathways may have the advantage of minimal adverse effects on normal vessels with wide therapeutic windows. This is particularly important for the treatment of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in preterm infants, whose premature vasculature is particularly sensitive to VEGF inhibitors with possible adverse effects. As a result, there is no FDA-approved drug therapy for ROP at this time. Unlike embryonic lethality with severe defects in vasculogenesis for VEGF^−/+ mice, mice with homozygous deletion of the Scg3 gene (i.e., equivalent to 100% blockade of Scg3) have a normal phenotype. These phenotypic differences suggest that anti-Scg3 may have a better safety profile for ROP therapy in preterm infants than anti-VEGF. In this regard, anti-Scg3 mAb has the potential to be translated for clinical therapy or ROP as well as DR.

In summary, this study demonstrated that Scg3 induced cell proliferation, migration and tube formation through ERK signaling pathway. The specific receptor for Scg3 is yet to be identified. Future studies should investigate whether Scg3 stimulates other signaling pathways via its receptor that may be relevant to therapeutic efficacy and adverse effects. In-depth understanding of Scg3 molecular mechanisms will facilitate the translation of this novel therapy.

Highlights.

• Scg3 promotes endothelial proliferation, migration and tube formation

• MEK inhibitor blocks Scg3-induced angiogenesis

• ERK inhibitor Scg3-induced endothelial proliferation and migration

• MEK/ERK signaling pathway is critical to Scg3-induced angiogenesis

Abbreviations

Scg3

secretogranin 3

DR

diabetic retinopathy

HUVEC

human umbilical vein endothelial cell

MEK

mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase

ERK

extracellular signal-regulated kinase

VEGF

vascular endothelial growth factor

VEGFR

VEGF receptor