TIR/BB-loop mimetic AS-1 protects vascular endothelial cells from injury induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation

Morphological and functional abnormalities of vascular endothelial cells (VECs) are risk factors of ischemia-reperfusion in skin flaps. Signaling pathway mediated by interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R) is essential to hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury of VECs. While the TIR/BB-loop mimetic (AS-1) disrupts the interaction between IL-1R and myeloid differentiation primary-response protein 88 (MyD88), its role in the VECs dysfunction under H/R is unclear. In this study, we first showed that there was an infiltration of inflammatory cells and the apoptosis of VECs by using a skin flap section from patients who received flap transplantation. We then showed that the H/R treatment induced apoptosis and loss of cell migration of endothelial cell line H926 were attenuated by AS-1. Furthermore, our data suggested that AS-1 inhibits the interaction between IL-1R and MyD88, and subsequent phosphorylation of IκB and p38 pathway, as well as the nuclear localization of NF-KB subunit p65/p50. Thus, this study indicated that the protective role of AS-1 in H/R induced cellular injury may be due to the AS-1 mediated down-regulation of IL-1R signaling pathway.