title: Urotensin-II and its receptor (UT-R) are expressed in rat brain endothelial cells, and urotensin-II via UT-R stimulates angiogenesis in vivo and in vitro.
abstract: Urotensin-II (UII), along its receptor UT-R, is widely expressed in the cardiovascular system, where it exerts regulatory actions under both physiological and pathological conditions. Real-time PCR and immunocytochemistry demonstrated the expression of UII and UT-R as mRNA and protein in rat neuromicrovascular endothelial cells (NECs). UII did not affect the proliferation rate of cultured NECs, but exerted a strong angiogenic action in both an in vitro assay on Matrigel and an in vivo assay on chorioallantoic membrane. The angiogenic effect of UII was similar to that of FGF-2, and was abolished by the UT-R antagonist Palosuran. Collectively, our findings allow us to include UII in the group of cytokines (e.g. endothelin-1 and adrenomedullin), which are expressed in endothelial cells and exert a pro-angiogenic effect acting in an autocrine-paracrine manner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, Section of Anatomy, University of Padua, I-35121 Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Spinazzi
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Albertin
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nico
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guidolin
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Liddo
authors.forename: Gian Paolo
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ribatti
authors.forename: Gastone G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Nussdorfer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology*; D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002642:Chick Embryo; D049033:Chorioallantoic Membrane / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000187:drug effects; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D018189:Immunomagnetic Separation; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013997:Time Factors; D014579:Urotensins / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D014579:Urotensins; C029677:urotensin II