Transcriptional and Post-Transcriptional Regulation of Thrombospondin-1 Expression: A Computational Model

PLoS Comput Biol. 2017 Jan 3;13(1):e1005272. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005272. eCollection 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Hypoxia is an important physiological stress signal that drives angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels. Besides an increase in the production of pro-angiogenic signals such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hypoxia also stimulates the production of anti-angiogenic signals. Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) is one of the anti-angiogenic factors whose synthesis is driven by hypoxia. Cellular synthesis of TSP-1 is tightly regulated by different intermediate biomolecules including proteins that interact with hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), transcription factors that are activated by receptor and intracellular signaling, and microRNAs which are small non-coding RNA molecules that function in post-transcriptional modification of gene expression. Here we present a computational model that describes the mechanistic interactions between intracellular biomolecules and cooperation between signaling pathways that together make up the complex network of TSP-1 regulation both at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. Assisted by the model, we conduct in silico experiments to compare the efficacy of different therapeutic strategies designed to modulate TSP-1 synthesis in conditions that simulate tumor and peripheral arterial disease microenvironment. We conclude that TSP-1 production in endothelial cells depends on not only the availability of certain growth factors but also the fine-tuned signaling cascades that are initiated by hypoxia.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Cell Hypoxia / physiology
  • Computational Biology
  • Computer Simulation
  • Gene Expression Regulation / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Models, Biological*
  • Oxygen / metabolism
  • Smad Proteins / metabolism
  • Thrombospondin 1 / analysis
  • Thrombospondin 1 / genetics*
  • Thrombospondin 1 / metabolism*
  • Transcription Factors

Substances

  • Smad Proteins
  • Thrombospondin 1
  • Transcription Factors
  • Oxygen