Expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in vascular tissue.
We investigated monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) mRNA expression in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) and in human atherosclerotic arteries to test the involvement of MCP-1 in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. In Northern blot analysis, MCP-1 mRNA expression was not observed in unstimulated cultured rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC), but its expression was clearly observed by exposure to tumour necrosis factor-alpha (100 U/ml) for 2-6 h. Mitogen-activated protein kinase activity in VSMC incubated in serum-free culture medium was increased by exposure to 0.5% fetal bovine serum, while the effect was significantly suppressed in the presence of MCP-1 (100 ng/ml). We then evaluated MCP-1 mRNA expression in atherosclerotic arteries obtained from 12 patients undergoing bypass revascularization through reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis and observed MCP-1 mRNA expression in all atherosclerotic arteries studied. These results support the premise that MCP-1 is secreted by VSMC in atherosclerotic plaques as well as by endothelial cells and macrophages and contributes to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
Seino
Y
Y
Department of Cardiology, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi, Japan.
Ikeda
U
U
Takahashi
M
M
Hojo
Y
Y
Irokawa
M
M
Kasahara
T
T
Shimada
K
K
D000818:Animals; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D002417:Cattle; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D051381:Rats
D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases