Abstract

Far-infrared radiation (FIR) may influence vascular endothelial function, but its time-dependent molecular effects in adult arterial endothelial cells remain incompletely defined. We investigated FIR-induced responses in human femoral artery endothelial cells (HFAECs) using transcriptomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic analyses with three biological replicates per condition. Transcriptomic profiling 3 h after 30 min of FIR irradiation identified 424 differentially expressed genes (210 upregulated and 214 downregulated) among 16,081 genes, including endothelial-protective, nitric oxide-related, oxidative-stress, and heat-shock response genes. Proteomic analysis identified 13 differentially abundant proteins immediately after irradiation and 23, 75, and 61 proteins at 6, 12, and 24 h, respectively. These temporal changes involved mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase signaling, vascular maturation, cytoskeletal organization, cell polarity, calcium/nitric oxide regulation, and stress adaptation. Phosphoproteomic analysis identified 12, 10, and 53 phosphorylation-related changes at 6, 12, and 24 h, respectively, indicating progression from actin and adhesion remodeling to junctional reorganization, focal adhesion maturation, and mechanosensing. Network analysis identified caveolin-1, β-catenin, and lamin B1 as hubs in a Rho guanosine triphosphatase-related module. Collectively, FIR induced a coordinated endothelial adaptive molecular response in HFAECs; functional studies are required to determine whether these changes enhance vascular repair.

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