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Das Protein p21 (Cip1/Waf1/Sdi1), ein Mitglied der Familie der Cyclin abhängigen Kinasen-Inhibitoren, ist ein wichtiger Modulator des Zellwachstums und der Reaktion auf DNA-Schädigung. Die Funktion von p21 hängt von der Stabilität des Proteins ab. p21 ist besonders stabil in der Phase G0/G1 des Zellzyklus. Phoshorylierungsvorgänge sowie Interaktionen mit anderen Proteinen spielen in der Stabilität von Proteinen eine wichtige Rolle. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war, herauszufinden, ob die Phosphorylierung von p21 durch die Proteinkinase AKT oder die durch diese Phosphorylierung beeinflusste Interaktion mit dem Proliferating cell nuclear antigen, kurz PCNA, einen Einfluß auf die Stabilität von p21 hat. Mittels Proteinhalbwertszeitbestimmung konnte demonstriert werden, daß die Phosphorylierung am Threonin 145 durch AKT keinen signifikanten Einfluß auf die Stabilität von p21 aufwies. Durch Pulse chase und Westem-Blot Versuche konnte aber nachgewiesen werden, daß die Anwesenheit von PCNA das Protein p21 stabilisierte und die Degradation beeinflusste. Es konnte mittels p21 Mutanten, deren PCNA- Bindung durch Austausch der Aminosäure (M147) inhibiert ist, gezeigt werden, daß nur eine direkte Bindung von PCNA an p21 die Degradation beeinflussen konnte. Die Bestimmung der subzellulären Lokalisation von p21, die zur weiteren Abklärung der erhöhten p21-Stabilität durch PCNA diente, zeigte in Immunopräzipitationsversuchen nach subzellulärer Fraktionierung eine Interaktion von p21 mit PCNA vorwiegend im Zytoplasma. Dies ließ sich auch durch Immunofluoreszenzuntersuchungen bestätigen. Schließlich zeigten die Untersuchungen, daß die subzelluläre Lokalisation von der direkten Bindung an PCNA abhängig war. Zusammenfassend zeigte die Arbeit auf, daß die Stabilität von p21 durch seinen Bindungspartner PCNA beeinflusst werden konnte, und dies vermutlich durch subzelluläre Translokation erfolgt.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the western world. Aging as the major risk factor for the development of CVD leads to structural changes in the heart and the vasculature. In addition to endothelial cells, mural cells, including smooth muscle cells and pericytes, form the vascular wall. Pericytes are defined as the perivascular cells located in the basement membrane of the capillaries, which are the smallest components of the vascular system and ensure the gas exchange in the tissue. In the different parts of the terminal vascular bed, pericytes receive different phenotypes and organ-specific functions. In addition to the stabilization of the vascular wall, pericytes are relevant for the formation of new vessels. Due to their potential of multipotent stem cells, pericytes can differentiate into different cell types and thus take a position in developmental processes. Pericytes play a crucial role in the development and diseases of the vascular system. Moreover, pericyte coverage is reduced in the aged heart. Nonetheless, the function of pericytes in the heart and their importance during cardiac aging is not completely understood.
To study the pericyte population in the aging heart, we have performed single-nucleus RNA-sequencing analysis comparing hearts from 12-weeks-old (young) and 18-month-old (old) mice. The detailed analysis of 336 differentially expressed genes (DEG) revealed that Rgs5 is downregulated in aged pericytes. Regulator of G-protein signaling 5 (RGS5), an established marker for pericytes, is involved the regulation of the blood pressure and in the formation of various cardiovascular diesases, including cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial infarction and atherosclerosis. We have furthermore confirmed this observation in vivo. Gene ontology (GO) analysis of DEG revealed that aged pericytes are characterized by the downregulation of genes involved in cell adhesion. Further, we have performed cell biology approaches using human brain vascular pericytes (hBVP) to investigate the role of Rgs5 in pericytes in vitro. Efficient knockdown of RGS5, although has no effect on cellular metabolism, viability and endothelial permeability, induces a reduction of pericyte adhesion to both a gelatine matrix and endothelial cells in a 3D matrigel culture. This was associated with the formation of filopodia. The altered phenotype suggested a changing identity of the pericytes. We could confirm that a loss of RGS5 causes a decreased expression of the pericyte markers PDGFRb and NOTCH3 and also leads to an overexpression of COL1A1, a fibroblast marker.
Together, our findings suggest that RGS5 is required for pericyte adhesion to endothelial cells and its downregulation in the aged mural cells could explain the reduction of pericyte coverage in the aged hearts. Further, RGS5 may be the key regulator for pericyte identity, as pericytes show an altered expression profile of cellular markers. The dedifferentiation of pericytes to a more fibroblast-like cell type could explain the increased fibrosis during age-related cardiac remodeling. We believe that RGS5 is a great candidate to explore and study the molecular mechanisms that regulate pericyte function in the heart, both in homeostasis and during aging.
Pericytes are capillary-associated mural cells involved in the maintenance and the stability of the vascular network. This thesis aims to investigate the role of pericytes in the heart in the context of ageing and disease. We highlight the malignant effects of the remodelling in the heart and stress the focus on the role of cardiac pericytes in this context. We show that ageing reduces pericyte coverage and that myocardial infarction (MI) causes an activation of these cells. Single-nuclei and single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of murine hearts further revealed that the expression of the Regulator of G-protein signalling 5 (Rgs5) is reduced in cardiac pericytes both in ageing and transiently at day 1 and day 3 after MI. The loss of RGS5 in pericytes drives an entropic state of these mural cells characterized by morphological changes, excessive extracellular deposition and enhanced Gaq mediated GPCR signalling. The deletion of RGS5 in pericytes causes cardiac systolic dysfunction, induces myocardial fibrosis, and drives the activation of cardiac fibroblasts in a TGFb-dependent manner. In conclusion, our results describe the importance of pericytes maintaining cardiac homeostasis, identify RGS5 as a key regulator of this process and propose pericytes as crucial mediators of cardiac fibrosis and possible therapeutic targets to prevent cardiovascular disease.