ABSTRACT
Objective To study the effect of angiotensinⅡ(AngⅡ) on apoptosis in endothelial cells(EC). Methods Human umbilical endothelial cells were cultured in vitro and treated with AngⅡ in various concentrations alone and in combination with fumonisin B1(FB1, an inhibitor of ceramidase). TUNEL was employed to determine the apoptosis of the cultured EC. The bax mRNA and protein levels of EC were detected by RT-PCR and Western-blot techniques. Results The results showed that the number of apoptotic cells was significantly higher in AngⅡ-treated endothelium than in the control group(P0.05). Conclusion AngⅡ may induce apoptosis of endothelial cells via ceramide and up-regulating the bax mRNA and protein expression. Ceramide is the upper stream of bax and induces apoptosis by bax pathway.