Sustained Static Pressure Stimulates Proliferation of Cultured Smooth Muscle Cells Via the Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Pathway

摘要

To investigate the mechanism of sustained static pressure-dependent smooth muscle cells (SMCs) proliferation, SMCs from rat aorta were treated with different static pressures for 24 hrs or were cultured under constant static pressure of 120 mmHg for different time periods. SMCs proliferation and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) activation significantly increased in pressure-dependent manner with the peak at the pressure of 120 mmHg and in time-dependent manner with the peak at 4 hrs. Static pressure obviously inhibited caveolin-1 expression, which was negative correlated with the ERK1/2 activation. The proliferation was selectively inhibited by PD98059 through blocking ERK1/2 phosphorylation. These findings demonstrate that sustained static pressure stimulates SMCs proliferation via the ERK1/2 pathway.