title: Adrenomedullin overexpression to inhibit cuff-induced arterial intimal formation.
abstract: Adrenomedullin (AM) inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation stimulated by fetal calf serum and platelet-derived growth factor in vitro. In this study, an adenovirus expressing AM (AxCAAM) was created to examine the in vivo action of AM. Femoral arteries of Wistar rats were wrapped with a silicone cuff and treated with adenovirus expressing Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase (AxCALacZ) or AxCAAM. Immunoreactivity for endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) was reduced in the endothelium of cuff-injured arteries and was associated with increased local DNA synthesis. Consequently, the intimal formation measured by the intimal-to-medial ratio was significantly increased at 14 and 28 days after the cuff placement. AxCAAM-infected arteries increased the expression of eNOS in the endothelium and inducible NOS in the media and the adventitia. AxCAAM significantly decreased the intimal-to-medial ratio by 40% at 14 days and 51% at 28 days, whereas AxCALacZ showed no changes compared with cuff-injured control arteries. AM overexpression effectively limits intimal hyperplasia by reducing cell proliferation through a nitric oxide-dependent pathway of eNOS. Our findings suggest the possibility of a therapeutic use of the AM gene for the prevention of vascular proliferative disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: Junsuke
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakaoka
authors.forename: Teruhiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogita
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tojo
authors.forename: Toshiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujita
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000235:genetics; D053607:Adrenomedullin; D000818:Animals; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000378:metabolism; D004247:DNA / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D015870:Gene Expression; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000378:metabolism; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014162:Transfection; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D053607:Adrenomedullin; D004247:DNA; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; C496318:Nos2 protein, rat; C496316:Nos3 protein, rat; D006152:Cyclic GMP