Abstract
Caffeine induces multiple vascular effects. In this study we investigated the angiogenic effect of physiological concentrations of caffeine with focus on endothelial cell behaviors (migration and proliferation) during angiogenesis and its mitochondrial and bioenergetic mechanisms. We showed that caffeine (10–50 μM) significantly enhanced angiogenesis in vitro, evidenced by concentration-dependent increases in tube formation, and migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) without affecting cell proliferation. Caffeine (50 μM) enhanced endothelial migration via activation of cAMP/PKA/AMPK signaling pathway, which was mimicked by cAMP analog 8-Br-cAMP, and blocked by PKA inhibitor H89, adenylate cyclase inhibitor SQ22536 or AMPK inhibitor compound C. Furthermore, caffeine (50 μM) induced significant mitochondrial shortening through the increased phosphorylation of mitochondrial fission protein dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) in HUVECs, which increased its activity to regulate mitochondrial fission. Pharmacological blockade of Drp1 by Mdivi-1 (10 μM) or disturbance of mitochondrial fission by Drp1 silencing markedly suppressed caffeine-induced lamellipodia formation and endothelial cell migration. Moreover, we showed that caffeine-induced mitochondrial fission led to accumulation of more mitochondria in lamellipodia regions and augmentation of mitochondrial energetics, both of which were necessary for cell migration. In a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia, administration of caffeine (0.05% in 200 mL drinking water daily, for 14 days) significantly promoted angiogenesis and perfusion as well as activation of endothelial AMPK signaling in the ischemic hindlimb. Taken together, caffeine induces mitochondrial fission through cAMP/PKA/AMPK signaling pathway. Mitochondrial fission is an integral process in caffeine-induced endothelial cell migration by altering mitochondrial distribution and energetics.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant numbers: 81700395 and 81870217); the Key Project of Department of Education of Guangdong Province (Grant number: 2018KZDXM053); the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangzhou (Grant numbers: 201903010005 and 202002030190) and “Yangcheng Scholars” Research Project by Guangzhou Education Bureau (Grant number: 201831843).
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YMX contributed to the conception and design; LTW, PCH, AQL, KXC, JWY, SG, LJ, LY, and XYD contributed to the acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data; LTW and YMX drafted the paper; YMX, DF, and NT supervised the experiments. All authors read and approved the final version to be published.
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Wang, Lt., He, Pc., Li, Aq. et al. Caffeine promotes angiogenesis through modulating endothelial mitochondrial dynamics. Acta Pharmacol Sin 42, 2033–2045 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-021-00623-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-021-00623-6
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