Piceatannol alleviates glucolipotoxicity induced vascular barrier injury through inhibition of the ROS/NF-kappa B signaling pathway.

Vascular barrier dysfunction is considered as the initial and critical event in atherosclerosis progression. Recent studies have revealed that treatment with piceatannol (PIC) alleviates both acute and chronic responses to vascular injury. We investigated whether PIC treatment would have beneficial effects on glucolipotoxicity-induced endothelial barrier dysfunction. Target proteins of PIC were identified from several online databases. Then, we confirmed the effect of PIC on endothelial barrier function. PIC treatment mitigated the impairment of endothelial cell motility, adhesion and migration ability associated with high glucose/lipid stimulation. PIC stabilized cytoskeletal reorganization and expression of cell cytoskeletal associated proteins GTPase. PIC reversed changes in critical vascular junction proteins and thus preserved endothelial barrier function and permeability. Finally, we confirmed that reducing of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB)/p65 activation and elimination of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were involved in the protective effect of PIC against glucolipotoxicity-induced vascular barrier injury. We identify PIC as a promising therapeutic strategy for glucolipotoxicity-induced endothelial barrier injury.