The data reveal that late EPCs from atherosclerotic model exhibit distinctive features and are dysfunctional, and their function recovery can be supported by MP ability to transfer miRNAs. These findings bring a new light on the vascular repair in atherosclerosis.

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The capsaicin receptor, transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), acts as a polymodal detector of pain-producing chemical and physical stimuli in sensory neurons. Hyperglycemia and hypoxia are two main phenomena in diabetes associated with several complications. Although many studies on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats indicate that early diabetic neuropathy is associated with potentiation of TRPV1 activity in dorsal root ganglion neurons, its underlying mechanism and distinctive roles of hyperglycemia and hypoxia have not been completely clarified. Here, we show that hypoxic and high glucose conditions (overnight exposure) potentiate the TRPV1 activity without affecting TRPV1 expression in both native rat sensory neurons and human embryonic kidney-derived 293 cells expressing rat or human TRPV1. Surprisingly, hypoxia was found to be a more effective determinant than high glucose, and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) seemed to be involved. In addition, high glucose enhanced TRPV1 sensitization only when high glucose existed together with hypoxia. The potentiation of TRPV1 was caused by its phosphorylation of the serine residues, and translocation of protein kinase C (PKC)ε was clearly observed in the cells exposed to the hypoxic conditions in both cell types, which was inhibited by 2-methoxyestradiol, a HIF-1α inhibitor. These data suggest that hypoxia is a new sensitization mechanism for TRPV1, which might be relevant to diabetes-related complications, and also for other diseases that are associated with acute hypoxia.

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Spinal microglia change their phenotype and proliferate after nerve injury, contributing to neuropathic pain. For the first time, we have characterized the electrophysiological properties of microglia and the potential role of microglial potassium channels in the spared nerve injury (SNI) model of neuropathic pain. We observed a strong increase of inward currents restricted at 2 days after injury associated with hyperpolarization of the resting membrane potential (RMP) in microglial cells compared to later time‐points and naive animals. We identified pharmacologically and genetically the current as being mediated by Kir2.1 ion channels whose expression at the cell membrane is increased 2 days after SNI. The inhibition of Kir2.1 with ML133 and siRNA reversed the RMP hyperpolarization and strongly reduced the currents of microglial cells 2 days after SNI. These electrophysiological changes occurred coincidentally to the peak of microglial proliferation following nerve injury. In vitro, ML133 drastically reduced the proliferation of BV2 microglial cell line after both 2 and 4 days in culture. In vivo, the intrathecal injection of ML133 significantly attenuated the proliferation of microglia and neuropathic pain behaviors after nerve injury. In summary, our data implicate Kir2.1‐mediated microglial proliferation as an important therapeutic target in neuropathic pain.

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