β-Escin Effectively Modulates HUVECs Proliferation and Tube Formation
by
Lenka Varinská 1,2,†, Lenka Fáber 1,†, Martin Kello 1, Eva Petrovová 3, Ľudmila Balážová 4, Peter Solár 5
, Matúš Čoma 1, Peter Urdzík 6, Ján Mojžiš 1, Emil Švajdlenka 7,8, Pavel Mučaji 9 and Peter Gál 1,2,9,*
Lenka Varinská 1,2,†, Lenka Fáber 1,†, Martin Kello 1, Eva Petrovová 3, Ľudmila Balážová 4, Peter Solár 5, Matúš Čoma 1, Peter Urdzík 6, Ján Mojžiš 1, Emil Švajdlenka 7,8, Pavel Mučaji 9 and Peter Gál 1,2,9,*
1
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, 040 11 Košice, Slovakia
2
Department of Biomedical Research, East-Slovak Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Inc., 040 11 Košice, Slovakia
3
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Physiology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, 040 11 Košice, Slovakia
4
Department of Pharmacognosy and Botany, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia
5
Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, 040 11 Košice, Slovakia
6
Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, 040 11 Košice, Slovakia
7
Department of Chemical Theory of Drugs, Faculty of Pharmacy, Comenius University, 831 04 Bratislava, Slovakia
8
Eurofins SK, Testing Laboratory Bratislava, 811 07 Bratislava, Slovakia
9
Department of Pharmacognosy and Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Comenius University, 831 04 Bratislava, Slovakia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Molecules 2018, 23(1), 197; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23010197
Received: 21 December 2017 / Revised: 11 January 2018 / Accepted: 12 January 2018 / Published: 17 January 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from the 46th EuroCongress on Drug Synthesis and Analysis (ECDSA-2017))
In the present study we evaluated the anti-angiogenic activities of β-escin (the major active compound of Aesculus hippocastanum L. seeds). Human umbilical-vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used as an in vitro model for studying the molecular mechanism underlying the anti-angiogenic effect of β-escin. We investigated the in vitro effects on proliferation, migration, and tube formation of HUVECs and in vivo anti-angiogenic activity was evaluated in a chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) angiogenesis assay. Moreover, the effect on gene expressions was determined by the RT2 ProfilerTM human angiogenesis PCR Array. It was found that β-escin exerts inhibitory effect on the basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-induced proliferation, migration and tube formation, as well as CAM angiogenesis in vivo. The inhibition of critical steps of angiogenic process observed with β-escin could be partially explained by suppression of Akt activation in response to bFGF. Moreover, the anti-angiogenic effects of β-escin could also be mediated via inhibition of EFNB2 and FGF-1 gene expressions in endothelial cells. In conclusion, β-escin affects endothelial cells as a negative mediator of angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo and may therefore be considered as a promising candidate for further research elucidating its underlying mechanism of action.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
β-escin; HUVECs; angiogenesis; bFGF; CAM
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Varinská, L.; Fáber, L.; Kello, M.; Petrovová, E.; Balážová, Ľ.; Solár, P.; Čoma, M.; Urdzík, P.; Mojžiš, J.; Švajdlenka, E.; Mučaji, P.; Gál, P. β-Escin Effectively Modulates HUVECs Proliferation and Tube Formation. Molecules 2018, 23, 197.
Show more citation formats
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
