title: Expression variations of connective tissue growth factor in pulmonary arteries from smokers with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
abstract: Cigarette smoking contributes to the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) complicated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and the pulmonary vascular remodeling, the structural basis of PH, could be attributed to abnormal proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs).In this study, morphometrical analysis showed that the pulmonary vessel wall thickness in smoker group and COPD group was significantly greater than in nonsmokers. In addition, we determined the expression patterns of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and cyclin D1 in PASMCs harvested from smokers with normal lung function or mild to moderate COPD, finding that the expression levels of CTGF and cyclin D1 were significantly increased in smoker group and COPD group. In vitro experiment showed that the expression of CTGF, cyclin D1 and E2F were signiﬁcantly increased in human PASMCs (HPASMCs) treated with 2% cigarette smoke extract (CSE), and two CTGF siRNAs with different mRNA hits successfully attenuated the upregulated cyclin D1 and E2F, and significantly restored the CSE-induced proliferation of HPASMCs by causing cell cycle arrest in G0. These ﬁndings suggest that CTGF may contribute to the pathogenesis of abnormal proliferation of HPASMCs by promoting the expression of its downstream effectors in smokers with or without COPD.
authors.affiliation: 1] Hefei Prevention and Treatment Center for Occupational Diseases, Hefei 230022, China [2] Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China.
authors.forename: Si-jing
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Afﬁliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.
authors.forename: Da-xiong
authors.initials: DX
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China.
authors.forename: Zhong-ming
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China.
authors.forename: Xian-wei
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China.
authors.forename: Yong-huai
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China.
authors.forename: Geng-yun
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D055513:Connective Tissue Growth Factor / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019938:Cyclin D1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D050684:E2F Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D034622:RNA Interference; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000378:metabolism; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D050684:E2F Transcription Factors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D019938:Cyclin D1; D055513:Connective Tissue Growth Factor