Cell sex determines anoikis resistance in vascular smooth muscle cells.
Sexual dimorphism, detectable in vascular smooth muscle cells freshly isolated from aorta of male and female rats, is associated with a different susceptibility to radiation-induced apoptosis. In this work we investigated the mechanism underlying this difference and discovered that, in comparison with cells from male rats, cells from female rats show adhesion-associated resistance to apoptosis, the so called anoikis resistance. This is apparently due to a more adhering phenotype, characterized by a well organized actin microfilament cytoskeleton and to an increased phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase, and, more importantly, to a higher propensity to undergo survival by autophagy.
Department of Drug Research and Evaluation, Section of Cell Aging and Degeneration, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy. straface@iss.it
Elisabetta
E
Straface
Rosa
R
Vona
Lucrezia
L
Gambardella
Barbara
B
Ascione
Maria
M
Marino
Paola
P
Bulzomi
Silvia
S
Canu
Rita
R
Coinu
Giuseppe
G
Rosano
Walter
W
Malorni
Flavia
F
Franconi
D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D023102:Anoikis; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010766:Phosphorylation; D051381:Rats; D012727:Sex Characteristics
D000199:Actins