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Paeoniflorin alleviates the progression of retinal vein occlusion via inhibiting hypoxia inducible factor-1α/vascular endothelial growth factor/STAT3 pathway

ABSTRACT Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is a severe retinal vascular disease involving several complications, leading to weakening of vision and even blindness. Globally, over 16 million patients with RVO were found in the middle-aged population. Paeoniflorin (PF), a monomer of Taohong Siwu decoction, was reported to exhibit many pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cardioprotective, and neuroprotective effects. However, the effect of PF on the progression of RVO remains unclear. In the current study, CCK8 assay was performed to investigate the cell viability. In addition, transwell assay and western blot were used to measure cell invasion and protein expression, respectively. Moreover, a mouse model of oxygen-induced dischemic retinopathy (OIR) was established. We found PF was able to inhibit the migration and angiogenesis of human retinal capillary endothelial cells under normoxia. Additionally, PF notably prevented hypoxia-induced angiogenesis of human retinal capillary endothelial cells via inhibiting hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/STAT3 pathway. Eventually, PF significantly alleviated the retinal lesions in the mouse with OIR. All in all, PF was able to alleviate the progression of retinal vein occlusion via inhibiting HIF-1α/VEGF/STAT3 pathway. These findings might provide some theoretical knowledge for exploring novel effective treatment for patients with RVO.


Introduction
Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is a common retinal vascular disease in ophthalmology [1]. There are nearly 16 million patients with RVO worldwide, and the disease primarily happens in the middleaged people [2]. In addition, retinal neovascularization and macular edema are the most common complications of RVO, leading to vision loss and even blindness [1]. The crucial pathological mechanism underlying macular edema and retinal neovascularization is the abnormal expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induced by hypoxia [3,4].
Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from preexisting vessels through germination morphogenesis, intestinal coat growth, division, and capillary differentiation [5,6]. This complex process includes a series of cellular events such as endothelial cell proliferation, migration, invasion, basement membrane degeneration, and capillary formation [7]. In addition, these processes are seriously controlled and regulated under a variety of physiological and pathological conditions, including tumor growth, wound healing, stroke, tissue regeneration, and other metabolic diseases [8]. VEGF is an essential vascular growth factor found in vivo in bovine pituitary follicular stellate cell cultures by Ferrara et al. [9] in the 1980s [4,5,10]. VEGF is able to bind specifically to VEGF receptors on vascular endothelial cells and promote the proliferation of cells [11]. Thereby, VEGF plays a vital role in promoting pathological neovascularization and vascular permeability [12,13].
Paeoniflorin (PF), a monomer derived from Taohong Siwu decoction, was reported to exhibit many pharmacological activities including antiinflammatory, anti-oxidant, cardio-protective, and neuro-protective effects [18,19]. However, the effect of PF on the progression of RVO remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of PF on hypoxia-induced angiogenesis of human retinal capillary endothelial cells in vitro and in vivo.

ELISA
According to manufacturers' instructions, the expression of VEGF in the supernatant of HRCECs was determined using commercial ELISA kits (Abcam; cat.: ab100663) [23].

Transwell invasion assay
HRCEC were starved in a serum-free medium for 12 h. Then, cells was added to the upper cell chamber and incubated for another 24 h in a serum-free medium, while cell medium containing 30% FBS (500 μL) was added to the lower cell chamber. Transwell chamber (0.4 μm; corning; cat.: 3412) was purchased from Corning. Cells in upper cell chamber were treated with different concentrations (0.5, 5, or 15 μM) of PF. After 24 h of incubation, cells migrated into lower chamber were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 30 min. Then, cells were rinsed thrice with PBS and stained with 0.1% crystal violet for 15 min. After that, cells were imaged using an inverted microscope [22].

Wound healing migration assay
HRCEC were cultured in a serum-free medium (6-well plate; 2 × 10 5 /well) overnight. When the cells were spread all over the 6-well plate, the pipette tip was used to make a vertical scratch on the inside of the plate. Then, cells were treated with different concentrations (0.5, 5, or 15 μM) of PF for 24 or 48 h. The degree of cell migration was observed and photographed under an inverted microscope at 0, 24h, or 48 h, respectively [24].

Oxygen-induced retinopathy in the rat model
Oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model in a newborn Sprague Dawley rat was established accordingly to previously report [25]. In brief, newborn rats (Charles River) were put into a controlled oxygen environment for 14 days. The oxygen concentration of this environment cycled between 50% and 10% every 24 h. The rats injected with 100 mg/kg PF once a day for 14 days intraperitoneally. PF was dissolved in normal saline. All animal procedures were approved by the ethics committee of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Retinal angiography
Rats were anesthetized with chloral hydrate, and their hearts were perfused with 100 μL of high-molecular-weight FITC-dextran (Sigma-Aldrich; cat.: FD2000S). The eyeballs were removed and fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde overnight. Next day, the retina of mouse was isolated under an inverted microscope, and mounted in a slide. The retina was finally imaged by a fluorescence microscopy [26].

Statistical analysis
The final data were expressed as mean ± SD. GraphPad Prism 8.0 (GraphPad Software) was used for plotting and statistical analysis, and the difference was considered statistically significant when P < 0.05. One-way ANOVA followed with Tukey test was used to compare multiple groups, and Student's t-test was used to compare two groups [20].

PF can inhibit the proliferation and migration of HRCECs
We first explored the effect of PF on the proliferation and migration of HRCEC cells using CCK8 and wound healing assays. As indicated in Figure 1a and 1b, PF inhibits the proliferation of HRCECs in time-dependent and dose-dependent manners. In addiotn, PF dose-dependently prevented the migration ability of HRCECs (Figure 1c-1f). All in all, PF was able to inhibit the proliferation and migration of HRCECs in vitro.

PF notably inhibits the angiogenesis of HRCECs under both normoxia and hypoxia
Next, the effect of PF on the angiogenesis of HRCECs under both normoxia and hypoxia was detected by conducting tube formatting experiment. As shown in Figure 2a, PF dose-dependently inhibited the angiogenesis of HRCECs under both normoxia. In consistently, PF (5 μM) significantly prevented the angiogenesis of HRCECs under hypoxia (Figure 2b). Taken together, PF was able to inhibit the angiogenesis of HRCECs under both normoxia and hypoxia.

PF is able to reverse hypoxia-induced upregulation of VEGFA, HIF-1α, and p-STAT3 in HRCECs
In order to investigate the effect of PF on the expression of VEGFA, HIF-1α and p-STAT3 under both normoxia and hypoxia, ELISA, RT-qPCR, and western blot assays were performed. The result of ELISA suggested PF   Importantly, hypoxia-induced upregulation of VEGFA, HIF-1α and p-STAT3 in HRCECs were all reserved by PF (Figure 3d-3f). All these data illustrated PF was able to decrease the expression of VEGFA, HIF-1α and p-STAT3 under both normoxia and hypoxia.

Knockdown of HIF-1α enhanced the antiangiogenesis effect of PF on HRCECs under hypoxia
With the purpose of investigating the mechanism by which PF exerted anti-angiogenesis effect on HRCECs under hypoxia, rescue experiment was conducted. Firstly, HIF-1α expression in cells was knocked down using siRNAs. The result of RT-qPCR suggested HIF-1α siRNAs effectively downregulated the gene level of HIF-1α in cells, especially HIF-1α siRNA3 (Figure 4a). The data of western blot confirmed that HIF-1α siRNA3 obviously inhibited the expression of HIF-1α in cells. In addition, as indicated in Figure 4d, knockdown of HIF-1α enhanced the anti-angiogenesis effect of PF on HRCECs under hypoxia. However, HIF-1α knockdown slightly increased the antimigration effect of PF under hypoxia. All these data suggested PF exerted anti-angiogenesis effect on HRCECs under hypoxia via regulating HIF-1α/VEGFA pathway.

PF prevents the angiogenesis of HRCECs via inhibition of HIF-1α/VEGFA pathway
To further confirm the mechanism underlying the anti-angiogenesis effect of PF on HRCECs under hypoxia, RT-qPCR and western blot experiments were conducted. As shown in Figure 5a, PF (5 μM) significantly downregulated the gene expression of HIF-1α and VEGFA in HRCECs under hypoxia, and the inhibitory effect of PF was further enhanced by HIF-1α knockdown. Meanwhile, the result of ELISA illustrated the level of VEGFA in HRCECs supernatant was notably upregulated under hypoxia, while this upregulation was reversed by PF or by PF plus HIF-1α siRNA3 (Figure 5b). Consistent with the data of    (Figure 5c, 5d). In addition, the inhibitory effect of PF on the expression of VEGFA, HIF-1α and p-STAT3 under hypoxia was strongly enhanced by HIF-1α siRNA3 (Figure 5c, 5d). Moreover, the outcome of fluorescence staining showed HIF-1α siRNA3 notably enhanced the inhibitory effect of PF on p-STAT3 expression in HRCECs under hypoxia (Figure 5e, 5f). All these results suggested PF may prevent the angiogenesis of HRCECs via inhibition of HIF-1α/VEGFA pathway.

PF inhibits the angiogenesis in a rat model of OIR via downregulation of HIF-1α/VEGFA pathway
In order to further explore the effect of PF on the progression of RVO, a rat model of OIR was established. The result of retinal angiography indicated OIR significantly promoted the angiogenesis in rat retinal tissue, while this phenomenon was reversed by PF treatment (Figure 6a). Additionally, the gene expression of HIF-1α and VEGFA was notably upregulated in retinal tissue of OIR rat; however, this upregulation was reversed by PF treatment as well (Figure 6b). Meanwhile, OIRinduced upregulation of p-STAT3 in retinal tissue was prevented by PF treatment (Figure 6c). Consistent with the result of in vitro, OIR remarkably increased the expression of HIF-1α, VEGFA, and p-STAT3 in rat retinal tissue; however, these phenomena were all reversed by PF treatment (Figure 6d, 6e). Taken together, PF was able to prevent the angiogenesis of rat retinal tissue by downregulation of HIF-1α/VEGFA pathway.

Discussion
As the incidence of RVO is growing consistently, it is essential for us to elucidate the mechanisms underlying RVO with the purpose of developing novel effective remedies [1,16]. In the present study, we found PF was able to inhibit the proliferation, invasion and angiogenesis of HRCECs under both normoxia and hypoxia. These data suggested PF might serve as a potential therapeutic agent to mitigate the progression of RVO.
Under hypoxia, the development of a new angiogenic pathway was activated [27]. HIF-1α is known to regulate the expression of VEGF and angiogenesis under hypoxia [4,10]. In addition, VEGF is one of the most important stimulators, which could promote the proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of endothelial cell [28]. In this study, PF was found to be able to decrease the level of HIF-1α and VEGF of HRCECs under hypoxia. Therefore, we deduced PF notably inhibited the proliferation, invasion and angiogenesis of HRCECs under hypoxia by downregulating HIF-1α and VEGF expression. This data was consistent with previously reported results that PF was able to inhibit AOPP-induced oxidative injury in HUVECs by downregulating HIF-1α and VEGF expression [29].
Different pathways are expected to be involved in hypoxia [5]. As expected, the expression of VEGF, p-STAT3, HIF-1α, and VEGF in HRCECs were affected under hypoxia. More importantly, HIF-1α might play a key role in hypoxia since it was activated at the early stage [30,31]. Then, VEGF and p-STAT3 could be upregualted by HIF-1α [32,33]. Thus, PF prevented hypoxia-induced upregulation of VEGFA p-STAT3 in HRCECs might depend on HIF-1α knockdown. That is the reason why the inhibitory effect of PF on the expression of VEGFA, HIF-1α, and p-STAT3 under hypoxia was strongly enhanced by HIF-1α siRNA3 in the current study. Finally, we proved that PF is helpful for mitigating the OIR rat retinal lesions by inhibiting HIF-1α/VEGFA pathway.

Conclusions
The present study revealed PF treatment was able to alleviate the progression of RVO via inhibiting HIF-1α/VEGF/STAT3 pathway. These findings might provide some theoretical knowledge for exploring novel effective treatment for patients with RVO.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding
This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Special project; 81874384).