Cellular senescence determines endothelial cell damage induced by uremia.

Abstract Renal dysfunction is closely associated with endothelial damage leading to cardiovascular disease. However, the extent to which endothelial damage induced by uremia is modulated by aging is poorly known. Aging can render endothelial cells more susceptible to apoptosis through an oxidative stress-dependent pathway. We examined whether senescence-associated to oxidative stress determines the injury induced by the uremia in endothelial cells. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) was incubated with human uremic serum and, in the animal model, endothelial cells were obtained from aortas of uremic and no uremic rats. Vitamin C was used to prevent oxidative stress. Senescence, assessed by telomere length and enzyme-betagalactosidase (β-gal), reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial depolarization (JC-1 probe), caspase 3, and apoptosis were determined by flow cytometry. NF-κB activity was determined by Western blot. Uremic serum increased ROS and NF-κB in young and aging HUVEC. However only in aging cells, uremic serum induced apoptosis (vs young HUVEC, p