Hematopoietic Substrate‐1‐Associated Protein X‐1 Regulates the Proliferation and Apoptosis of Endothelial Progenitor Cells Through Akt Pathway Modulation

Abstract Endothelial precursor cells (EPCs) are involved in vasculogenesis of various physiological and pathological processes. The proliferation and survival mechanism of EPCs needs to be explored further for the purpose of developing an effective glioma treatment. Hematopoietic substrate‐1‐associated protein X‐1 (HAX‐1) has been reported as an anti‐apoptotic protein that plays an important role in several malignant tumors. However, the effect and mechanism of HAX‐1 on EPCs remains unknown. This study aims to investigate the effect of HAX‐1 on the proliferation and apoptosis of EPCs and explore its mechanism. According to our results, HAX‐1 was overexpressed in EPCs. The results of clone formation and 5‐ethynyl‐2′‐deoxyuridine proliferation assay showed that HAX‐1 promoted multiplication of EPCs. Flow cytometry showed HAX‐1 knockout cell cycle arrest mainly in G0/G1 phase. Apoptosis analysis showed that HAX‐1 could protect EPCs from apoptosis in oxidative stress. Western blot assay indicated that HAX‐1 could inhibit the activation of caspase cascade and reduce the expression of p21, Bcl‐2‐associated X protein, and p53. HAX‐1 also enhanced the degradation rate and ubiquitination of p53 through the promotion of phosphorylation of proteins MDM‐2 and Akt1. Co‐immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescent colocalization assays were performed to test the influence of HAX‐1 on the interaction between Akt1 and heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), which is crucial for the activity of Akt1. In conclusion, this novel study suggests that HAX‐1 could facilitate the Akt1 pathway through Hsp90, which led to a decline in the levels of p53, and finally promoted the proliferation and inhibited the apoptosis of EPCs. S tem C ells 2018;36:406–419