A comparison of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α agonist and antagonist on human umbilical vein endothelial cells angiogenesis.
BACKGROUND
There are controversial reports about the antiangiogenic effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα). In the current study, we compared the effects of PPARα agonist and antagonist on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) angiogenesis with matrigel assay.


METHODS
HUVECs (1 × 10(5) cells/well) treated with PPARα agonist (fenofibrate) and antagonist (GW6471) were cultured on matrigel for 24 h. Treated cells were stained with calcein and investigated by fluorescent microscopy. The obtained images were also analyzed by AngioQuant software. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS 15 software, Kruskal-Wallis and one way ANOVA.


RESULTS
Statistical analysis showed that fenofibrate significantly inhibit the tube formation (size, length, junction) (P < 0.05) but there was a trend to increased angiogenesis in GW6471 treated group (P > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
These results showed that PPARα agonist is effective in suppression of angiogenesis. Further studies are needed to confirm these results in in vivo studies.
Department of Physiology, Physiology Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Nasim
N
Dana
Shaghayegh H
SH
Javanmard
Mohammad
M
Fazilati
Ali A
AA
Pilehvarian
Angiogenesis; human umbilical vein endothelial cells; peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor