Endothelial CD34 expression and regulation of immune cell response in-vitro

Endothelial cells cover the lining of different blood vessels and lymph nodes, and have major functions including the transport of blood, vessel homeostasis, inflammatory responses, control of transendothelial migration of circulating cells into the tissues, and formation of new blood vessels. Therefore, understanding these cells is of major interest. The morphological features, phenotype and function of endothelial cells varies according to the vascular bed examined. The sialomucin, CD34, is widely used as an endothelial marker. However, CD34 is differentially expressed on endothelial cells in different organs and in pathological conditions. Little is known about regulation of endothelial CD34 expression or function. Expression of CD34 is also strongly regulated in-vitro in endothelial cell models, including human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and endothelial colony forming cells (ECFC). We have therefore analysed the expression and function of CD34 by comparing CD34^high and CD34^low endothelial cell subpopulations. Transcriptomic analysis showed that CD34 gene and protein expressions are highly correlated, that CD34^high cells proliferate less but express higher levels of IL-33 and Angiopoietin 2, compared with CD34^low cells. Higher secretion levels of IL-33 and Angiopoietin 2 by CD34^high HUVECs was confirmed by ELISA. Finally, when endothelial cells were allowed to interact with peripheral blood mononuclear cells, CD34^high endothelial cells activated stronger proliferation of regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs) compared to CD34^low cells whereas expansion of other CD4⁺-T cell subsets was equivalent. These results suggest that CD34 expression by endothelial cells in-vitro associates with their ability to proliferate and with an immunogenic ability that favours the tolerogenic response.