KLF2 provokes a gene expression pattern that establishes functional quiescent differentiation of the endothelium

The flow-responsive transcription factor KLF2 is acquiring a leading role in the regulation of endothelial cell gene expression. A genome-wide microarray expression profiling is described employing lentivirus-mediated, 7-day overexpression of human KLF2 at levels observed under prolonged flow. KLF2 is not involved in lineage typing, as 42 endothelial-specific markers were unaffected. Rather, KLF2 generates a gene transcription profile (> 1000 genes) affecting key functional pathways such as cell migration, vasomotor function, inflammation, and hemostasis and induces a morphology change typical for shear exposure including stress fiber formation. Protein levels for thrombomodulin, endothelial nitric oxide synthase, and plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 are altered to atheroprotective levels, even in the presence of the inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha. KLF2 attenuates cell migration by affecting multiple genes including VEGFR2 and the potent antimigratory SEMA3F. The distribution of Weibel-Palade bodies in cultured cell populations is normalized at the single-cell level without interfering with their regulated, RalA-dependent release. In contrast, thrombin-induced release of Weibel-Palade bodies is significantly attenuated, consistent with the proposed role of VWF release at low-shear stress regions of the vasculature in atherosclerosis. These results establish that KLF2 acts as a central transcriptional switch point between the quiescent and activated states of the adult endothelial cell.