Different PI 3-kinase inhibitors have distinct effects on endothelial permeability and leukocyte transmigration

Endothelial cells play a central role in inflammatory responses, mediating leukocyte and solute traffic from blood vessels into the tissue, and are therefore key targets for anti-inflammatory therapies. Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) are important signal transducers in inflammation and cancer, however there are 8 different PI3K catalytic isoforms, several of which have been shown to play distinct roles in cellular responses. Isoform-selective inhibitors have recently been described, but their effects on endothelial cell responses have not been compared. Here we compare the effects of the pan-PI3K inhibitor wortmannin with that of four more isoform-selective inhibitors, PI-103, TGX-221, AS604850 and IC87114, on endothelial cells stimulated with the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNFα. We find that PI-103 and wortmannin are most effective at reducing both endothelial permeability and leukocyte transendothelial migration (TEM), which correlates with a decrease in both the activity of the tyrosine kinase Pyk2 and its association with VE-cadherin. PI-103-related compounds are therefore likely to be good candidates for treating chronic inflammatory responses involving TNFα.