Cell culture and sample treatment
Macrophage line RAW264.7 (cat. No: tcm13; Shanghai, China) was purchased from cell bank of Chinese Academy of Sciences. RAW264.7 cells were cultured in DMEM containing 10% fetal bovine serum, 100 U / ml penicillin and 100 µg / ml streptomycin. Culture at 37 °C with 5% CO2 and 95% humidified atmosphere, change the medium every three days.Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs, Shanghai Institute of cell research, Chinese Academy of Sciences) were cultured in F12 medium containing 10% FBS, 25 U / ml heparin, 2 ml glutamine, 1.5 g / L sodium bicarbonate and 100 U / L penicillin and streptomycin.Meanwhile, in order to simulate the diabetic environment in vitro, HUVECs cells were cultured in F12 medium containing 30 mm / L glucose (sigma Aldrich) for 24 hours, as previously described[6]. The cells pretreated with high glucose (HG, 30 mm / L) were used as experimental control group. At the same time, in order to better explore the role of LPS stimulated macrophage exosomes, the experimental group used the combination of exosomes inhibitor (GW4869)[5, 21–23] and different concentrations of exosomes to treat cells.
Preparation and purification of exosomes from LPS-stimulated macrophages
The specific steps for preparing and purifying Exos and LPS-Exos in vitro are as previously described [6, 11].When the content of RAW264.7 cells reached 90% in a 150 mm cell culture dish, the culture medium was replaced by the FBS deleted by exosomes (1 x DMEM, 10% heat inactivated FBS deleted by ultrafiltration).In order to prepare LPS-Exos, LPS (100 ng / ml) was added to the cell culture dish to stimulate the growth of RAW264.7 cells, and the culture continued for 24 hours.The supernatant of cell culture was collected by centrifuge tube,The mixture was then centrifuged at 4 ° C for 10 minutes at 2000 g and at 10000 g for 30 minutes to remove cells and debris, then filtered using a 0.22 µ M filter.Finally, the collected supernatant was transferred to a new ultracentrifuge (Hitachi, Koki, Co., Ltd, Japan), centrifuged at 4 ° C for 1.5 h at 120000 g, and then the supernatant was discarded to collect the transparent sediment at the bottom of the centrifuge tube to obtain the exosomes from LPS stimulated macrophages.
The collected exons from LPS-stimulated macrophages were examined for their morphology and shape using a transmission electron microscope (JEM 1200EX; JEOL, Tokyo, Japan). At the same time, their particle size and surface charge were measured with Zetasizer Nano Z S (Malvin Instruments, Malvin, UK).In order to discuss the identification of Exos and LPS-Exos, Western blot method was used to detect CD81, CD9, TSG101 and Alix (known exosome markers) in their components.
In Vitro Cellular Uptake Analysis
The specific steps of the cell uptake analysis of LPS-Exos using confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) are as described previously [4, 11].To evaluate the targeting of LPS-Exos, HUVECs cells were first plated at a density of 1 × 10^5 cells per well overnight. When the cell density reaches 70% -80%, 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3 ', 3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine (DiI) labeled LPS-Exos (200 µg / ml) will be incubated with HUVECs cells 4 hour.Then rinse the cells three times with PBS (3 minutes each time), remove LPS-Exos attached to the cell membrane, then add 2.5% paraformaldehyde to fix the cells for 0.5 hours, and stain the nuclei with 5 µg / mL DAPI for 20 minutes. Then use laser confocal scanning microscope to observe the cell distribution of DiI-labeled LPS-Exos.
Cell proliferation determination
Cell count kit 8 (CCK-8; dojindu, Kyushu Island, Japan) was used to detect the proliferation activity of HUVECs.First, the cells were inoculated in 96 well plates (5 repeat holes) with a density of 5 × 10^4 cells / hole for 24 hours, and cultured overnight in a medium containing 0.5% fetal bovine serum.The medium was replaced by serum-free medium in the presence of low LPS-Exos concentrations (LPS-Exos low, 200 µg/mL), high LPS-Exos concentrations (Exos high, 400 µg/mL), and the combination of LPS-Exos at 400 µg/mL and GW4869 at 10 µM (Exos high + GW4869), respectively. A group without cells served as the blank.After 24 hours, CCK-8 solution (10 ml per well) was added to HUVECs and cells were incubated at 37 ℃ for 1 hour. Finally, the quantitative detection is carried out on the micro board reader with the wavelength of 450 nm.
Cell scratch wound healing assay
The specific steps for in vitro migration through the scratch wound test are as previously described[24, 25].Briefly, HUVECs cells are cultured in 96-well petri dishes and in a 37 ° C incubator until they reach 100% confluence in a single layer.Then gently scrape the confluent cell monolayer with the pipette suction head to cover the entire diameter of the dish.After scratching, wash with culture medium for 3 times, remove the separated cells, and then supplement with fresh culture medium.The wells were then treated with LPS-Exos of different concentrations and incubated with the cells at 37 ℃.After incubation for 24 hours, the image was obtained by inverted Leica fluorescence microscope and quantified by measuring the scratch healing distance.
Tube formation assay
HUVECs (5 × 10^4 cells per well) were inoculated on the 96 well plate coated with matrix coating.The cells were incubated in serum-free F12 medium with different concentrations of LPS-Exos or PBS at 37 ℃ for 4 hours, and then the formation of the tubes was examined by inverted microscope (Leica dmi6000b, Germany).
Determination of intracellular ROS accumulation
Using fluorescent marker DCFH2-DA to measure the accumulation of ROS in HUVECs treated under different conditions as previously described[26].Briefly, HUVEC (1 × 105 cells / well) was seeded in a 6-well plate and treated with HG (30 mM) for 24 hours in the presence of different concentrations of LPS-Exos.After the treatment, the medium supernatant was removed, and the cells were washed 3 times with PBS (3 minutes at a time).Then, DCFH2-DA (10 µM) was mixed with 500 µL F12 medium and added to the culture plate.
Finally, after incubating for 30 minutes, the relative fluorescence intensity was measured at 485 / 535 nm (A485 / 535) using a fluorescence spectrophotometer (Hidex Oy).
Determination of Oxidative Stress
Wound skin tissue homogenates (intact skin around the wound on the 14th day after injury) were prepared with cold phosphate buffered saline.Glutathione peroxidase (GSH PX), malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were evaluated with GSH Px, SOD and MDA test kits (Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Research Institute, Nanjing, China) respectively according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Diabetic skin wound animal model and treatment
In this experiment, adult female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats (180–200 g) were selected and fed under standard pathogen free conditions. All procedures are approved by the animal research committee of Jinzhou Medical University.Streptozotocin (sigma, St. Louis, Mo, USA) was intraperitoneally injected to SD rats at a dose of 80 mg / kg / body weight to induce experimental diabetes.Blood glucose level was monitored 72 hours later, and rats with blood glucose level > 300 mg / dL were selected for further study.Then the rats were anesthetized by intraperitoneal injection of pentobarbital (50 mg / kg). The back of the rats was shaved off and a round full-thickness wound with a diameter of 1.5 cm was formed on the back of the rats.
The rats were randomly divided into four groups: control group, LPS-Exos low group, LPS -Exos high group, LPS-Exos high + GW4869 group.The diabetic wound sites were treated with 1 ml PBS, 1 ml of low-concentration LPS-Exos (500 µg/mL), high-concentration LPS-Exos (1 mg/mL) and the combination of high-concentration LPS-Exos (1 mg/mL) and GW4869 (1.5 mg/kg), respectively, per wound by subcutaneous injection.The wound reduction rate was calculated by the following formula: wound reduction rate (%) = (AO at) / AO × 100, in which Ao was the initial wound area and at was the wound area at 7, 14 and 21 days after injury.On the 14th day after operation, the peripheral skin of the wound was taken for protein extraction (WB) and staining.
Histology Analysis
First, the excised tissue composed of wound bed and surrounding healthy skin on the 14th day after the wound was fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde solution for 72 hours, then dehydrated with graded alcohol series, embedded in paraffin, and cut into 4-micron slices perpendicular to the wound surface.Then hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) staining were used to evaluate the healing stage, and Masson trichrome (MT) blue staining (Solarbio) was used to study the degree of collagen deposition in the healing tissue.Finally, Leica camera (model DFC 295) was used to take tissue pictures on Leica microscope, and Image Pro Plus 6.0 analysis software was used for quantitative analysis.
Western blot (WB) analysis
HUVECs cells after 24 hours of drug treatment and intact skin around the wound of diabetic rats on the 14th day after injury were collected for cytoplasmic and nucleoprotein analysis, and Western blot was performed as previously described [6, 26].The main antibodies used in the experiment are as follows: anti-CD81 (1:1000, abcam, cambridge, uk); anti-CD9 (1:2000, abcam, cambridge, uk);anti-TSG101 (1:1000, abcam, cambridge, uk); anti-Alix (1:1000, abcam, cambridge, uk); anti-GAPDH (1:10000, abcam, cambridge, uk);
anti-Nrf2 (1:500, abcam,cambridge, uk); anti-HO-1 (1:1000, abcam, cambridge, uk); anti-NQO-1(1:1000, abcam, cambridge, uk);anti-IL-1β (1:1000, abcam, cambridge,uk); anti-IL-6 (1:1000, Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.,Danvers, MA, USA); anti-TNF-α (1:1000,abcam, cambridge, uk);anti-VEGF (1:1000, Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.,
Danvers, MA, USA); anti-CD31 (1:500, abcam, cambridge, uk); anti-SMA (1:1000, Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.,Danvers, MA, USA); anti-MMP-9 (1:500, abcam, cambridge, uk).
Finally, enhanced chemiluminescence reagents (Thermo Fisher Scientific) were used to visualize the results. ImageJ software (NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA) was used to analyze the density of protein bands.
Immunofluorescence Analysis
VEGF and SMA were stained with immunofluorescence to determine the degree of angiogenesis in granulation tissue on the 14th day after injury.In short, the slices were dewaxed in xylene and rehydrated with a gradient ethanol solution.After washing with PBS, the tissue sections were sealed in 1% BSA at room temperature for 30 minutes, incubated overnight at 4 ℃, and then stored at room temperature for 1 hour with their secondary antibodies (goat rabbit or goat rat).In addition, the nuclei were stained with 2 - (4-aminophenyl) − 6-indoleaminoformamide (DAPI) (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA).
Finally, all sections were observed under the fluorescence microscope (Olympus, Hamburg, Germany).The number of vessels in different groups was determined by using Image-Pro Plus 6. software to count 4 random fields in each segment between the wound edges.
Statistical analysis
All data were expressed as mean ± standard error of mean (SEM).Independent sample t-test was used to compare the mean between two different groups.Using GraphPad Prism software (GraphPad, La Jolla, CA, USA), one-way ANOVA was used to determine the significance level, and P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.