{"title":"KUS121是一种新型的VCP调节剂,通过维持内皮细胞的ATP水平来减少内质网应激和抑制糖酵解,从而减缓动脉粥样硬化的发展","authors":"Fuquan Zou , Osamu Baba , Takahiro Horie , Yasuhiro Nakashima , Shuhei Tsuji , Tomohiro Yamasaki , Chiharu Otani , Sijia Xu , Miyako Imanaka , Kazuki Matsushita , Keita Suzuki , Eitaro Kume , Hidenori Kojima , Qiuxian Qian , Kayo Kimura , Naoya Sowa , Akira Kakizuka , Koh Ono","doi":"10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2025.119223","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background and aims</h3><div>Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathways contribute to atherosclerosis progression. Recently, we developed Kyoto University Substance (KUS) 121, which selectively inhibits ATPase activities of valosin-containing protein (VCP), consequently conserving intracellular ATP consumption and mitigating ER stress. This study evaluated the efficacy of KUS121 in atherosclerosis.</div></div><div><h3>Methods and results</h3><div>KUS121 was administered daily to <em>Apoe</em><sup><em>−/−</em></sup> mice fed a Western diet (WD) for 8 weeks. KUS121 treatment resulted in a 40–50 % reduction in atherosclerosis progression. Interestingly, we observed that C/EBP homologous protein (Chop), a well-established ER stress marker, was predominantly expressed in plaque endothelium. In human EA.hy926 endothelial cells, KUS121 prevented ER stress-induced apoptosis and downregulated the Inositol-requiring enzyme 1 alpha (IRE1α)-associated inflammatory pathways. Consistent with these <em>in vitro</em> findings, KUS121 treatment significantly reduced endothelial apoptosis, as shown by TUNEL and cleaved caspase-3 staining, and inflammation, as demonstrated by immunostaining of Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and Intercellular adhesion molecule (Icam) 1 at plaque endothelium. We also demonstrated that KUS121 maintained ATP levels in EA.hy926 cells and atherosclerotic plaque lesions using single-wavelength and the FRET-based fluorescent ATP sensors. Supplementation of intracellular ATP by methyl pyruvate attenuated ER stress-induced apoptotic and inflammatory pathways in endothelial cells, similar to KUS121. Besides affecting ER stress, KUS121 also reduced inflammation even without ER stress by inhibiting glycolysis through increased intracellular ATP levels in LPS-treated EA.hy926 cells.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>KUS121 can be a new therapeutic option for atherosclerotic diseases by maintaining intracellular ATP levels, leading to the attenuation of ER stress and glycolysis in plaque endothelium.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8623,"journal":{"name":"Atherosclerosis","volume":"405 ","pages":"Article 119223"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"KUS121, a novel VCP modulator, attenuates atherosclerosis development by reducing ER stress and inhibiting glycolysis through the maintenance of ATP levels in endothelial cells\",\"authors\":\"Fuquan Zou , Osamu Baba , Takahiro Horie , Yasuhiro Nakashima , Shuhei Tsuji , Tomohiro Yamasaki , Chiharu Otani , Sijia Xu , Miyako Imanaka , Kazuki Matsushita , Keita Suzuki , Eitaro Kume , Hidenori Kojima , Qiuxian Qian , Kayo Kimura , Naoya Sowa , Akira Kakizuka , Koh Ono\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2025.119223\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><h3>Background and aims</h3><div>Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathways contribute to atherosclerosis progression. Recently, we developed Kyoto University Substance (KUS) 121, which selectively inhibits ATPase activities of valosin-containing protein (VCP), consequently conserving intracellular ATP consumption and mitigating ER stress. This study evaluated the efficacy of KUS121 in atherosclerosis.</div></div><div><h3>Methods and results</h3><div>KUS121 was administered daily to <em>Apoe</em><sup><em>−/−</em></sup> mice fed a Western diet (WD) for 8 weeks. KUS121 treatment resulted in a 40–50 % reduction in atherosclerosis progression. Interestingly, we observed that C/EBP homologous protein (Chop), a well-established ER stress marker, was predominantly expressed in plaque endothelium. In human EA.hy926 endothelial cells, KUS121 prevented ER stress-induced apoptosis and downregulated the Inositol-requiring enzyme 1 alpha (IRE1α)-associated inflammatory pathways. Consistent with these <em>in vitro</em> findings, KUS121 treatment significantly reduced endothelial apoptosis, as shown by TUNEL and cleaved caspase-3 staining, and inflammation, as demonstrated by immunostaining of Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and Intercellular adhesion molecule (Icam) 1 at plaque endothelium. We also demonstrated that KUS121 maintained ATP levels in EA.hy926 cells and atherosclerotic plaque lesions using single-wavelength and the FRET-based fluorescent ATP sensors. Supplementation of intracellular ATP by methyl pyruvate attenuated ER stress-induced apoptotic and inflammatory pathways in endothelial cells, similar to KUS121. Besides affecting ER stress, KUS121 also reduced inflammation even without ER stress by inhibiting glycolysis through increased intracellular ATP levels in LPS-treated EA.hy926 cells.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>KUS121 can be a new therapeutic option for atherosclerotic diseases by maintaining intracellular ATP levels, leading to the attenuation of ER stress and glycolysis in plaque endothelium.</div></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":8623,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Atherosclerosis\",\"volume\":\"405 \",\"pages\":\"Article 119223\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":5.7000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-05-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Atherosclerosis\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021915025001212\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Atherosclerosis","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021915025001212","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS","Score":null,"Total":0}
KUS121, a novel VCP modulator, attenuates atherosclerosis development by reducing ER stress and inhibiting glycolysis through the maintenance of ATP levels in endothelial cells
Background and aims
Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathways contribute to atherosclerosis progression. Recently, we developed Kyoto University Substance (KUS) 121, which selectively inhibits ATPase activities of valosin-containing protein (VCP), consequently conserving intracellular ATP consumption and mitigating ER stress. This study evaluated the efficacy of KUS121 in atherosclerosis.
Methods and results
KUS121 was administered daily to Apoe−/− mice fed a Western diet (WD) for 8 weeks. KUS121 treatment resulted in a 40–50 % reduction in atherosclerosis progression. Interestingly, we observed that C/EBP homologous protein (Chop), a well-established ER stress marker, was predominantly expressed in plaque endothelium. In human EA.hy926 endothelial cells, KUS121 prevented ER stress-induced apoptosis and downregulated the Inositol-requiring enzyme 1 alpha (IRE1α)-associated inflammatory pathways. Consistent with these in vitro findings, KUS121 treatment significantly reduced endothelial apoptosis, as shown by TUNEL and cleaved caspase-3 staining, and inflammation, as demonstrated by immunostaining of Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and Intercellular adhesion molecule (Icam) 1 at plaque endothelium. We also demonstrated that KUS121 maintained ATP levels in EA.hy926 cells and atherosclerotic plaque lesions using single-wavelength and the FRET-based fluorescent ATP sensors. Supplementation of intracellular ATP by methyl pyruvate attenuated ER stress-induced apoptotic and inflammatory pathways in endothelial cells, similar to KUS121. Besides affecting ER stress, KUS121 also reduced inflammation even without ER stress by inhibiting glycolysis through increased intracellular ATP levels in LPS-treated EA.hy926 cells.
Conclusions
KUS121 can be a new therapeutic option for atherosclerotic diseases by maintaining intracellular ATP levels, leading to the attenuation of ER stress and glycolysis in plaque endothelium.
期刊介绍:
Atherosclerosis has an open access mirror journal Atherosclerosis: X, sharing the same aims and scope, editorial team, submission system and rigorous peer review.
Atherosclerosis brings together, from all sources, papers concerned with investigation on atherosclerosis, its risk factors and clinical manifestations. Atherosclerosis covers basic and translational, clinical and population research approaches to arterial and vascular biology and disease, as well as their risk factors including: disturbances of lipid and lipoprotein metabolism, diabetes and hypertension, thrombosis, and inflammation. The Editors are interested in original or review papers dealing with the pathogenesis, environmental, genetic and epigenetic basis, diagnosis or treatment of atherosclerosis and related diseases as well as their risk factors.