Prostaglandin E1 reduces apoptosis and improves the homing of mesenchymal stem cells in pulmonary arterial hypertension by regulating hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is associated with oxidative stress and affects the survival and homing of transplanted mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as well as cytokine secretion by the MSCs, thereby altering their therapeutic potential. In this study, we preconditioned the MSCs with prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) and performed in vitro and in vivo cell experiments to evaluate the therapeutic effects of MSCs in rats with PAH. METHODS: We studied the relationship between PGE1 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion, B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) expression, and C-X-C chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) expression in MSCs and MSC apoptosis as well as migration through the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway in vitro. The experimental rats were randomly divided into five groups: (I) control group, (II) monocrotaline (MCT) group, (III) MCT + non-preconditioned (Non-PC) MSC group, (IV) MCT + PGE1-preconditioned (PGE1-PC) MSC group, and (V) MCT(+PGE1+YC-1-PC)MSC group. We studied methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA) levels, MSC homing to rat lungs, mean pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary artery systolic pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy index, wall thickness index (%WT), and relative wall area index (%WA) of rat pulmonary arterioles. RESULTS: Preconditioning with PGE1 increased the protein levels of HIF-1 alpha (HIF-1α) in MSCs, which can reduce MSC apoptosis and increase the protein levels of CXCR4, MSC migration, and vascular endothelial growth factor secretion. Upon injection with (PGE1-PC)MSCs, the pulmonary artery systolic pressure, mean pulmonary artery pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy index, %WT, and %WA decreased in rats with PAH. (PGE1-PC)MSCs exhibited better therapeutic effects than (non-PC)MSCs. Interestingly, lificiguat (YC-1), an inhibitor of the HIF pathway, blocked the effects of PGE1 preconditioning. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that PGE1 modulates the properties of MSCs by regulating the HIF pathway, providing insights into the mechanism by which PGE1 preconditioning can be used to improve the therapeutic potential of MSCs in PAH. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13287-022-03011-x.