ORGANOTYPIC ENDOTHELIAL IDENTITY DETERMINES DIVERGENT MOLECULAR AND FUNCTIONAL RESPONSES TO LPS AND IL-6

Abstract

ABSTRACT Endothelial cells (ECs) display marked vascular bed-specific heterogeneity, and their inflammation-induced activation is a central feature of vascular pathology. However, whether inflammatory responses are primarily shaped by intrinsic organotypic endothelial identity or by the inflammatory stimulus itself remains largely unknown. To address this question, we compared the temporal responses of brain- (hCMEC/D3), skin- (HMEC-1), and lung-derived (HuLEC-5a) human microvascular ECs to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interleukin-6 (IL-6/IL-6R). Across all conditions, endothelial origin was the dominant determinant of transcriptional variation, outweighing the effects of both the inflammatory stimulus and exposure time. Brain-, skin- and lung-derived ECs exhibited distinct basal inflammatory and innate immune gene expression programs and responded differently to both LPS and IL-6/IL-6R. LPS induced a rapid but largely transient response, whereas IL-6/IL-6R elicited more sustained inflammatory changes. Although transcriptional profiling identified a shared inflammatory signature across EC populations, most differentially expressed genes were vascular bed specific. These molecular differences translated into distinct functional outcomes: IL-6/IL-6R increased endothelial permeability and promoted more sustained metabolic adaptations, whereas LPS induced robust inflammatory activation without persistent barrier dysfunction. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that while inflammatory stimuli determine which signaling pathways are activated, intrinsic endothelial identity dictates the magnitude, kinetics, and functional consequences of the inflammatory response. Our results highlight the importance of incorporating vascular bed specificity into experimental models and the development of therapies targeting endothelial dysfunction and inflammation.