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ADAMTS2 and ADAMTS14 can substitute for ADAMTS3 in adults for pro-VEGFC activation and lymphatic homeostasis
Laura Dupont, … , Agnès Noël, Alain C.M.A. Colige
Laura Dupont, … , Agnès Noël, Alain C.M.A. Colige
Published March 22, 2022
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2022;7(8):e151509. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.151509.
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Research Article Angiogenesis Vascular biology

ADAMTS2 and ADAMTS14 can substitute for ADAMTS3 in adults for pro-VEGFC activation and lymphatic homeostasis

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Abstract

The capacity of ADAMTS3 to cleave pro-VEGFC into active VEGFC able to bind its receptors and to stimulate lymphangiogenesis has been clearly established during embryonic life. However, this function of ADAMTS3 is unlikely to persist in adulthood because of its restricted expression pattern after birth. Because ADAMTS2 and ADAMTS14 are closely related to ADAMTS3 and are mainly expressed in connective tissues where the lymphatic network extends, we hypothesized that they could substitute for ADAMTS3 during adulthood in mammals allowing proteolytic activation of pro-VEGFC. Here, we demonstrated that ADAMTS2 and ADAMTS14 are able to process pro-VEGFC into active VEGFC as efficiently as ADAMTS3. In vivo, adult mice lacking Adamts2 developed skin lymphedema due to a reduction of the density and diameter of lymphatic vessels, leading to a decrease of lymphatic functionality, while genetic ablation of Adamts14 had no impact. In a model of thermal cauterization of cornea, lymphangiogenesis was significantly reduced in Adamts2- and Adamts14-KO mice and further repressed in Adamts2/Adamts14 double-KO mice. In summary, we have demonstrated that ADAMTS2 and ADAMTS14 are as efficient as ADAMTS3 in activation of pro-VEGFC and are involved in the homeostasis of the lymphatic vasculature in adulthood, both in physiological and pathological processes.

Authors

Laura Dupont, Loïc Joannes, Florent Morfoisse, Silvia Blacher, Christine Monseur, Christophe F. Deroanne, Agnès Noël, Alain C.M.A. Colige

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Figure 5

Impaired lymphatic function in absence of Adamts2.

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Impaired lymphatic function in absence of Adamts2.
(A) Evans blue dye wa...
(A) Evans blue dye was injected into the footpad. After 30 minutes, mice were sacrificed and inguinal lymph nodes were visualized. Scale bar: 1 mm. In WT and TS14–/– mice, lymph nodes and the efferent lymphatic vessels (arrows) had a marked blue color. By contrast, they were barely detectable in TS2–/– and TS2–/–TS14–/– mice, demonstrating a delayed draining from the site of injection. The images were acquired with a camera-equipped dissection microscope (Optika). (B) Computer-assisted quantification of the blue dye intensity in inguinal lymph nodes of WT, TS2–/–, TS14–/–, and TS2–/–TS14–/– mice expressed as a percentage of WT control. Outliers were excluded based on Dixon’s test for extreme values. Statistical analyses were performed using Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Holm-Šidák post hoc test for multiple comparisons. ***P < 0.001.

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ISSN 2379-3708

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