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.
Straface
Elisabetta
E
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
Vona
Rosa
R
Gambardella
Lucrezia
L
Ascione
Barbara
B
Marino
Maria
M
Bulzomi
Paola
P
Canu
Silvia
S
Coinu
Rita
R
Rosano
Giuseppe
G
Malorni
Walter
W
Franconi
Flavia
F
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