Engineering the response to vascular injury: Divergent effects of deregulated E2F1 expression on vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells result in endothelial recovery and inhibition of neointimal growth

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is expressed locally in the vessel wall after angioplasty and induces growth arrest and apoptosis in endothelial cells (ECs), thereby delaying reendothelialization. Prior studies have shown that direct antagonism of TNF-α, using a systemically administered soluble receptor, can enhance endothelial recovery and reduce neointimal thickening. These studies have also shown that downregulation of the transcription factor E2F1 was a key mechanism of TNF's effect on ECs. We now show that Ad-E2F1 overexpression at sites of balloon injury accelerates functional endothelial recovery, consistent with the prior in vitro findings. Moreover these studies also reveal divergent effects of TNF-α and overexpression of E2F1 on ECs versus VSMCs. TNF-α exposure of VSMCs had no affect on proliferation or apoptosis, in contrast to the effect seen in ECs. In Ad-E2F1-transduced VSMCs, however, TNF-α-induced marked apoptosis in contrast to the survival effect seen in ECs. Finally, these studies suggest that differential activation of NF-κB may play a key role in mediating these opposing effects. Nuclear translocation and transcriptional activity of NF-κB was markedly attenuated in Ad-E2F1-transduced VSMCs, whereas it remained active in similarly treated ECs when the cells were exposed to TNF-α. These studies reveal that overexpression of Ad-E2F1 primes VSMCs to TNF-α-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, E2F1 potentiates VSMC death by blocking antiapoptotic signaling pathway through inhibition of NF-αB activation. The divergent responses of VSMCs and ECs to E2F1 overexpression provide unique therapeutic possibilities: simultaneously targeting the cell cycle of two different cell types, within same tissue microenvironment resulting in opposite and biologically complimentary effects.