Doxycycline Alters Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Adhesion, Migration, and Reorganization of Fibrillar Collagen Matrices

Remodeling of injured blood vessels is dependent on smooth muscle cells and matrix metalloproteinase activity. Doxycycline is a broad spectrum matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor that is under investigation for the treatment of acute coronary syndromes and aneurysms. In the present study, we examine the mechanisms by which doxycycline inhibits smooth muscle cell responses using a series of in vitro assays that mimic critical steps in pathological vascular remodeling. Doxycycline treatment dramatically increased smooth muscle cell adhesion to the substrate, as evidenced by interference reflection microscopy and immunostaining for paxillin and phosphotyrosine. Cell aggregation was also potentiated after treatment with doxycycline. Treatment with 104 μmol/L doxycycline reduced thymidine uptake by 58% compared with untreated cells (P < 0.05) and inhibited closure of a scrape wound made in a smooth muscle cell monolayer by 20% (P < 0.05). Contraction of a three-dimensional collagen gel was used as an in vitro model for constrictive vessel remodeling, demonstrating that treatment with 416 μmol/L doxycycline for 12 hours inhibited collagen gel remodeling by 37% relative to control (P < 0.05). In conclusion, we have shown that doxycycline treatment leads to dramatically increased smooth muscle cell adhesion, which in turn might limit responses in pathological vascular remodeling.