Maternal immune activation leads to defective brain blood vessels and intracerebral hemorrhages in male offspring (2022)
Figure 3

Figure 3 TGF-β1 dampens the expression of CD146 and Claudin-5 and reduces the tightness of in-vitro barrier models - independently of the sex.

A. TEER of the in vitro BBB models composed by a monolayer of ECs sorted from E17 Male Ctrl (1.00 ± 0.02), Male Poly I:C (0.92 ± 0.04), Female Ctrl (1.15 ± 0.04), Female Poly I:C (1.00 ± 0.07) offspring. Data are normalized to male Ctrl.

B. Permeability to 10 kDa Dextran of the in vitro BBB models composed by a monolayer of sorted ECs from Male Ctrl (1.00 ± 0.06), Male Poly I:C (1.13 ± 0.02), Female Ctrl (0.97 ± 0.05), Female Poly I:C (0.95 ± 0.01) offspring. Mann-Whitney U test, *p < .05. Data are normalized to male Ctrl.

C. TEER of barriers composed of bEND.3 alone (1.00 ± 0.00) or co-cultured with sorted PCs from Male Ctrl (1.17 ± 0.07), Male Poly I:C (0.95 ± 0.05), Female Ctrl (1.15 ± 0.08), Female Poly I:C (1.15 ± 0.08) offspring. Mann-Whitney U test, *p < .05. Data are normalized to bEnd.3.

D. Permeability to 10 kDa Dextran of barriers composed by a monolayer of bEND.3 alone (1.00 ± 0.06) or co-cultured with sorted PCs from Male Ctrl (0.47 ± 0.09), Male Poly I:C (0.46 ± 0.07), Female Ctrl (0.46 ± 0.11), Female Poly I:C (0.65 ± 0.05) offspring. One sample t test, **p < .01. Data are normalized to bEnd.3.

E. TEER (Ω.cm2) was monitored over 72h treatment with TGF-β1 and normalized to baseline in BBB models composed by a monolayer of sorted ECs from Male (72h TGF-β1 = 82.85 ± 1.56) or Female (72h TGF-β1 = 85.92 ± 2.03) embryos. The insert shows the values at 72h (bars) normalized to the 0h values (dashed line). One sample t test, ***p < .001, ****p < .0001.

F. TEER (Ω.cm2) was monitored over 72h treatment with TGF-β1 and normalized to baseline in barrier models composed by a monolayer of bEND.3 alone (72h TGF-β1 = 89.85 ± 2.05) or co-cultured with sorted PCs from Male (72h TGF-β1 = 88.83 ± 1.93) or Female (72h TGF-β1 = 89.02 ± 2.22) embryos. The insert shows the values at 72h (bars) normalized to the 0h values (dashed line). Wilcoxon signed-rank test, *p < .05.

G. 10 kDa Dextran permeability after 72h TGF-β1 treatment of the in vitro BBBs prototypes composed by a monolayer made of sorted ECs from Male NT (0.43 ± 0.02), Male TGF-β1 (0.43 ± 0.03); Female NT (0.45 ± 0.00), Female TGF-β1 (0.47 ± 0.01).

H. 10 kDa Dextran permeability 72h after TGF-β1 treatment of NVU prototypes composed by a monolayer made of bEND.3 alone (NT, solid black bar = 0.45 ± 0.01, TGF-β1, dotted black bar = 0.49 ± 0.00) and co-cultured with sorted PCs from Male (NT = 0.45 ± 0.04, TGF-β1 = 0.48 ± 0.00), or Female (NT = 0.49 ± 0.03, TGF-β1 = 0.53 ± 0.02) embryos. Student's t test, *p < .05.

I. FACS quantitative data of the normalized MFI of CD146 (NT = 100.00 ± 1.14, TGF-β1 = 54.08 ± 9.42; Student's t test, *p < .05) and representative histogram of untreated (solid gray) and TGF-β1 treated cells (hollow black bold line).

J. FACS quantitative data of the normalized MFI of Claudin-5 (CLDN5; NT = 100.00 ± 8.94, TGF-β1 = 65.22 ± 5.29; Student's t test, **p < .01) and representative histogram of untreated (solid gray) and TGF-β1 treated cells (hollow black bold line).

K. Representative images of monolayers of primary endothelial cells isolated from male brains and stained for CD146 (red) and CLDN5 (green) under control conditions (NT) or upon treatment with different cytokines. Scale bar = 50 µm.

L. Quantitative analysis of CD146 immunofluorescence mean intensity measured in primary male brain EC monolayers under control conditions or after 72h treatments with different cytokines: NT = 100.00 ± 6.55, TGF-β1 = 94.03 ± 2.01, IL-1β + TGF-β1 = 84.87 ± 4.59, IL-1β = 92.34 ± 2.65; Kruskal-Wallis, *p < .05.

M. Quantitative analysis of Claudin-5 immunofluorescence mean intensity in primary male brain EC monolayers under control conditions or after 72h treatments with different cytokines: NT = 99.76 ± 5.19, TGF-β1 = 86.74 ± 6.76, IL-1β + TGF-β1 = 51.64 ± 3.31, IL-1β = 107.3 ± 7.37; Ordinary one-way ANOVA, **p < .01, ****p < .0001.

N. Quantitative analysis of Claudin-5 immunofluorescence area (µm2) in primary male brain EC monolayers under control conditions or after 72h treatments with different cytokines: NT = 39781 ± 2342, TGF-β1 = 31707 ± 5939, IL-1β + TGF-β1 = 5415 ± 1037, IL-1β = 46303 ± 2986; Ordinary one-way ANOVA, *p < .05, **p < .01, ****p < .0001.

O. Graph showing TEER measured by volt-ohmmeter at 72h normalized in NT (100.00 ± 7.46) and IL-1β + TGF-β1 (49.93 ± 10.96) treated primary male brain EC cultures. Student's t test, **p < .01. Data are normalized to t0.

P. Permeability to 3kDa dextran quantified by fluorescence spectrophotometry in NT (1.00 ± 0.10) and IL-1β + TGF-β1 (1.92 ± 0.33) treated primary male brain EC cultures. Student's t test, *p < .05.

Q. Permeability to 10kDa dextran quantified by fluorescence spectrophotometry in NT (1.00 ± 0.11) and IL-1β + TGF-β1 (1.80 ± 0.26) treated primary male brain EC cultures. Student's t test, *p < .05.

Data information: A-H. Embryos prenatally exposed to vehicle (Ctrl) or Poly I:C on GD9 were dissected, and cortex derived vascular cells were used to build in-vitro barrier models. K-Q. Cortex-derived-EC isolated from male mice at 2 mouths were used to build in-vitro barrier models and analyzed. bEend.3 cells = bars with black border. Cells derived from Ctrl males = white bars with blu border. Cells derived from Poly I:C males = blu bars with blu border. Cells derived from Ctrl females = white bars with purple border. Cells derived from Poly I:C females = purple bars with purple border. In Fig.3 E and F blue and purple dotted lines represent cells derived from male and female brain respectively. The black dotted line represent bEnd.3 cultures. Numbers in bars indicate the number of animals (N) or independent cultures/pictures. Bars represent mean ± SEM.