Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
10872978 | FEBS Letters | 2005 | 4 Pages |
Abstract
Although vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are widely used in cardiovascular research, their phenotypic change under various culture conditions is problematic to evaluate the experimental results obtained. The levels of angiotensin (Ang) type 1/2 (AT1/AT2) receptors as well as contractile and structural proteins are degraded through culture passages. The present study demonstrated that heparin recovered Ang receptors and differentiation markers, such as desmin, SM-22 and smooth muscle α-actin in VSMCs at the ninth passage. Heparin also potenciated Ang II-induced activation for ERK1/2 and p38. These results suggest a potential value of heparin-treated VSMCs as the model for analysis of Ang-mediated signal transduction under physiological condition.
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Authors
Tatsuo Hashimoto, Minoru Kihara, Keiko Sato, Nozomi Imai, Yutaka Tanaka, Masashi Sakai, Kouichi Tamura, Nobuhito Hirawa, Yoshiyuki Toya, Hitoshi Kitamura, Satoshi Umemura,