Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 3 pp 3368—3385
Amorphous nano-selenium quantum dots prevent pulmonary arterial hypertension through recoupling endothelial nitric oxide synthase
- 1 Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Province for Green Manufacturing of Fine Chemicals, Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Media and Reactions, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan, China
- 2 Henan International Joint Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Drug Intervention, School of Pharmacy, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan, China
- 3 School of Laboratory Medicine, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan, China
- 4 School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan, China
- 5 Department of Pharmacy, The 3rd Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan, China
- 6 Hubei Key Laboratory of Diabetes and Angiopathy, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, Hubei, China
- 7 The Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Health Commission and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, The State and Shandong Province Joint Key Laboratory of Translational Cardiovascular Medicine, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
Received: July 29, 2020 Accepted: September 29, 2020 Published: December 15, 2020
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.202215How to Cite
Copyright: © 2020 Zhu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Aims: We have previously reported that nano-selenium quantum dots (SeQDs) prevented endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerosis. This study is to investigate whether amorphous SeQDs (A-SeQDs) increase endogenous tetrahydrobiopterin biosynthesis to alleviate pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Results: Both A-SeQDs and C-SeQDs were stable under physiological conditions, while the size of A-SeQDs was smaller than C-SeQDs by high resolution-transmission electron microscopy scanning. In monocrotaline-injected mice, oral administration of A-SeQDs was more effective to decrease pulmonary arterial pressure, compared to C-SeQDs and organic selenium. Further, A-SeQDs increased both nitric oxide productions and intracellular BH4 levels, upregulated dihydrofolate reductase activity in lungs, and improved pulmonary arterial remodeling. Gene deletion of dihydrofolate reductase abolished these effects produced by A-SeQDs in mice. Finally, the blood levels of tetrahydrobiopterin and selenium were decreased in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Conclusion: A-SeQDs increase intracellular tetrahydrobiopterin to prevent pulmonary arterial hypertension through recoupling endothelial nitric oxide synthase.
Methods: Two polymorphs of SeQDs and A-SeQDs, and a crystalline form of SeQDs (C-SeQDs) were prepared through self-redox decomposition of selenosulfate precursor. Mice were injected with monocrotaline to induce pulmonary arterial hypertension in vivo. Pulmonary arterial pressure was measured.