Effect of estrogen on the gene expression of caveolin-1 in rat vascular smooth muscle cells / 中国病理生理杂志

ABSTRACT

AIM: To assess the effect of estrogen on the gene expression of caveolin-1 in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). METHODS: Wistar rats were ovariectomized and subjected to subcutaneous implantation of placebo pellets (OVX+V group) or estradiol pellets (OVX+E group). 2 weeks after implantation, the expression of caveolin-1 gene in endothelium-denuded aortic tissue was examined by RT-PCR. Furthermore, Northern blotting was used to analyze the mRNA expression of caveolin-1 in cultured rat VSMCs. RESULTS: RT-PCR showed that expression of caveolin-1 gene was significantly higher in OVX+E group than that in OVX+V group. Northern blot analysis showed that the mRNA expression of caveolin-1 was higher in VSMCs pretreated with 17?-estradiol (17?-E 2) than that in VSMCs without 17?-E 2 pretreatment. CONCLUSION: Estrogen up-regulates the gene expression of caveolin-1 in the vascular wall, partially indicating the cardiovascular effect of estrogen. [