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Nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) is the newest discovered intracellular second messengers, which is able to release Ca 2+ stored within endolysosomal (EL) vesicles. NAADP-induced Ca 2+ signals mediate a growing number of cellular functions, ranging from proliferation to muscle contraction and differentiation. Recently, NAADP has recently been shown to regulate angiogenesis by promoting endothelial cell growth. It is, however, still unknown whether NAADP stimulates proliferation also in endothelial progenitor cells, which are mobilized in circulation after an ischemic insult to induce tissue revascularization. Herein, we described a novel approach to prepare NAADP-containing liposomes, which are highly cell membrane permeable and are therefore amenable for stimulating cell activity. Accordingly, NAADP-containing liposomes evoked an increase in intracellular Ca 2+ concentration, which was inhibited by NED-19, a selective inhibitor of NAADP-induced Ca 2+ release. Furthermore, NAADP-containing liposomes promoted EPC proliferation, a process which was inhibited by NED-19 and BAPTA, a membrane permeable intracellular Ca 2+ buffer. Therefore, NAADP-containing liposomes stand out as a promising tool to promote revascularization of hypoxic/ischemic tissues by favoring EPC proliferation. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 3722-3729, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Truly endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) can be mobilized from bone marrow to support the vascular network of growing tumors, thereby sustaining the metastatic switch. Endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs) are the only EPC subtype belonging to the endothelial phenotype and capable of incorporating within neovessels. The intracellular Ca(2+) machinery plays a key role in ECFC activation and is remodeled in renal cellular carcinoma-derived ECFCs (RCC-ECFCs). Particularly, RCC-ECFCs seems to undergo a drop in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+) ]ER ). This feature is remarkable when considering that inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3 )-dependent ER-to-mitochondria Ca(2+) transfer regulates the intrinsic apoptosis pathway. Herein, we sought to assess whether: (1) the [Ca(2+) ]ER and the InsP3 -induced ER-mitochondria Ca(2+) shuttle are reduced in RCC-ECFCs; and (2) the dysregulation of ER Ca(2+) handling leads to apoptosis resistance in tumor-derived cells. RCC-ECFCs displayed a reduction both in [Ca(2+) ]ER and in the InsP3 -dependent mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake, while they expressed normal levels of Bcl-2 and Bak. The decrease in [Ca(2+) ]ER was associated to a remarkable ER expansion in RCC-ECFCs, which is a hallmark of ER stress, and did not depend on the remodeling of the Ca(2+) -transporting and the ER Ca(2+) -storing systems. As expected, RCC-ECFCs were less sensitive to rapamycin- and thapsigargin-induced apoptosis; however, buffering intracellular Ca(2+) levels with BAPTA dampened apoptosis in both cell types. Finally, store-operated Ca(2+) entry was seemingly uncoupled from the apoptotic machinery in RCC-ECFCs. Thus, the chronic underfilling of the ER Ca(2+) pool could confer a survival advantage to RCC-ECFCs and underpin RCC resistance to pharmacological treatment. J. Cell. Biochem. 117: 2260-2271, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are mobilized into circulation to replace damaged endothelial cells and recapitulate the vascular network of injured tissues. Intracellular Ca(2+) signals are key to EPC activation, but it is yet to be elucidated whether they are endowed with the same blend of Ca(2+) -permeable channels expressed by mature endothelial cells. For instance, endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs), the only EPC subset truly committed to acquire a mature endothelial phenotype, lack canonical transient receptor potential channels 3, 5 and 6 (TRPC3, 5 and 6), which are widely distributed in vascular endothelium; on the other hand, they express a functional store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE). The present study was undertaken to assess whether human circulating EPCs possess TRP vanilloid channel 4 (TRPV4), which plays a master signalling role in mature endothelium, by controlling both vascular remodelling and arterial pressure. We found that EPCs express both TRPV4 mRNA and protein. Moreover, both GSK1016790A (GSK) and phorbol myristate acetate and, two widely employed TRPV4 agonists, induced intracellular Ca(2+) signals uniquely in presence of extracellular Ca(2+). GSK- and PMA-induced Ca(2+) elevations were inhibited by RN-1734 and ruthenium red, which selectively target TRPV4 in mature endothelium. However, TRPV4 stimulation with GSK did not cause EPC proliferation, while the pharmacological blockade of TRPV4 only modestly affected EPC growth in the presence of a growth factor-enriched culture medium. Conversely, SOCE inhibition with BTP-2, La(3+) and Gd(3+) dramatically decreased cell proliferation. These data indicate that human circulating EPCs possess a functional TRPV4 protein before their engraftment into nascent vessels., (© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)