Endothelial cell flow-mediated quiescence is temporally regulated and utilizes the cell cycle inhibitor p27

Abstract

Vascular endothelial cells regulate their cell cycle as blood vessels remodel and mature, and as they transition from active angiogenesis to quiescence. Mechanical cues provided by fluid shear stress orchestrate this transition, and laminar blood flow instigates a quiescent (G0) state and homeostasis. However, how flow-mediated quiescence is set up and maintained is poorly understood. We found that flow-mediated endothelial cell quiescence has unique properties and temporal regulation of quiescence depth. Flow-exposed endothelial cells had a distinct transcriptome, and quiescent endothelial cells re-entered the cell cycle more rapidly after extended flow exposure compared to contact inhibition, indicating a shallow quiescence depth. The cell cycle inhibitor CDKN1B (p27) was required for endothelial cell flow-mediated quiescence but was not significantly expressed after extended flow exposure. Rather, flow-exposed endothelial cells first established a deep quiescence that subsequently became shallow, and p27 levels positively correlated with these distinct quiescent states. HES1 and ID3, transcriptional repressors of p27 downstream of flow-regulated Notch and BMP signaling, were required for flow-mediated quiescence depth changes and the reduced p27 levels associated with shallow quiescence. These findings are consistent with a model whereby flow-mediated endothelial cell quiescence depth is temporally regulated downstream of transcriptional regulation of p27.