Anti-angiogenic effects of homocysteine on cultured endothelial cells.
High levels of homocysteine induce a sustained injury on arterial endothelial cells which accelerates the development of thrombosis and atherosclerosis. Some of the described effects of homocysteine on endothelial cells are features shared with an anti-angiogenic response. Therefore, we studied the effects of homocysteine on key steps of angiogenesis using bovine aorta endothelial cells as a model. Homocysteine decreased proliferation and induced differentiation. Furthermore, 5 mM homocysteine produced strong inhibitions of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and urokinase, two proteolytic activities that play a key role in extracellular matrix re-modeling, and decreased migration and invasion, other two key steps of angiogenesis. This study demonstrates that homocysteine can inhibit several steps of the angiogenic process.
Rodríguez-Nieto
Salvador
S
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Málaga, Málaga E-29071, Spain.
Chavarría
Teresa
T
Martínez-Poveda
Beatriz
B
Sánchez-Jiménez
Francisca
F
Rodríguez Quesada
Ana
A
Medina
Miguel Angel
MA
D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta; D002417:Cattle; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007700:Kinetics; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects*
D006710:Homocysteine