eLife (Feb 2020)

Sphingosine 1-phosphate-regulated transcriptomes in heterogenous arterial and lymphatic endothelium of the aorta

  • Eric Engelbrecht,
  • Michel V Levesque,
  • Liqun He,
  • Michael Vanlandewijck,
  • Anja Nitzsche,
  • Hira Niazi,
  • Andrew Kuo,
  • Sasha A Singh,
  • Masanori Aikawa,
  • Kristina Holton,
  • Richard L Proia,
  • Mari Kono,
  • William T Pu,
  • Eric Camerer,
  • Christer Betsholtz,
  • Timothy Hla

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.52690
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

Read online

Despite the medical importance of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), in vivo cellular heterogeneity of GPCR signaling and downstream transcriptional responses are not understood. We report the comprehensive characterization of transcriptomes (bulk and single-cell) and chromatin domains regulated by sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor-1 (S1PR1) in adult mouse aortic endothelial cells. First, S1PR1 regulates NFκB and nuclear glucocorticoid receptor pathways to suppress inflammation-related mRNAs. Second, S1PR1 signaling in the heterogenous endothelial cell (EC) subtypes occurs at spatially-distinct areas of the aorta. For example, a transcriptomically distinct arterial EC population at vascular branch points (aEC1) exhibits ligand-independent S1PR1/ß-arrestin coupling. In contrast, circulatory S1P-dependent S1PR1/ß-arrestin coupling was observed in non-branch point aEC2 cells that exhibit an inflammatory gene expression signature. Moreover, S1P/S1PR1 signaling regulates the expression of lymphangiogenic and inflammation-related transcripts in an adventitial lymphatic EC (LEC) population in a ligand-dependent manner. These insights add resolution to existing concepts of endothelial heterogeneity, GPCR signaling and S1P biology.

Keywords