Pravastatin inhibits the expression of syndecan-4 protein in tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced rat vascular smooth muscle cells in vitro / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of pravastatin on the proliferation of rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and expression of syndecan-4 protein induced by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>VSMCs cultured in vitro were exposed to 20 ng/ml TNF-alpha, 10 micromol/ml pravastatin, 20 micromol/ml pravastatin, 10 micromol/ml pravastatin with 20 ng/ml TNF-alpha, or 20 micromol/ml pravastatin with 20 ng/ml TNF-alpha for 24 h. The proliferation of the VSMCs was determined by non-radioactive MTS/PMS assay and the expression of syndecan-4 protein was detected by Western blotting using anti-syndecan-4 antibody.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared to the control group, TNF-alpha at 20 ng/ml significantly stimulated the proliferation of rat VSMCs (P<0.05). Pravastatin alone produced no obvious effect on VSMCs growth (P>0.05), but significantly inhibited TNF-alpha-induced VSMC proliferation (P<0.05). The expression of syndecan-4 protein in the VSMCs was significantly enhanced by 20 ng/ml TNF-alpha (P<0.01). Pravastatin alone did not affect the expression of syndecan-4 protein (P>0.05), but significantly inhibited TNF-alpha-induced enhancement of syndecan-4 protein expression (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Pravastatin can inhibit the proliferation and syndean-4 protein expression in rat VSMCs induced by TNF-alpha in vitro.</p>