Abstract 654: XBP1 Splicing is Involved in Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells Interaction

Background: The X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) is a stress inducible transcription factors, essential for cell survival under stress conditions. Our previous studies have revealed that XBP1 participates in endothelial cell (EC) proliferation, autophagic response and survival and in smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation. Whether XBP1 is involved in EC/SMC interaction remains unclear. Methods and Results: In this study, we first performed hindlimb ischemia model in XBP1loxP/loxP and SM22-Cre+/XBP1loxP/loxP mice. The XBP1 deficiency in SMCs significantly attenuated the recovery of foot blood perfusion in ischemic mice. Immunofluorescence staining revealed that ECs lost contact to each other in XBP1 deficient mice, suggesting that XBP1 in SMCs may contribute to EC/SMC interaction. The conditioned medium from Ad-XBP1s-infected SMCs increased EC migration and proliferation. The conditioned medium from Ad-XBP1s-infected ECs also increased SMC migration but suppressed SMC proliferation. The migration effect coul...