Angiopoietin-like protein 8 promotes phenotypic transformation of rat aorta vascular smooth muscle cells

Abstract

Objective To explore the role and mechanism of angiopoietin-like protein 8 (ANGPTL8) on phenotypic transformation of rat aorta vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Methods ApoE-/- male mice (8 weeks of age) were fed with a western diet for 12 weeks to build the atherosclerosis mouse model. The expression and localization of ANGPTL8 in atherosclerotic plaques were detected by immunofluorescence staining. Stable transfections of the ANGPTL8 over-expression vector were performed. VSMCs were randomly divided into 5 groups: control group,LV-ANGPTL8 group,ox-LDL (50 mg/L)group,(ox-LDL+LV-ANGPTL8) group and (LV-ANGPTL8+PD98059 group. And cell migration was observed by wound-healing assay. The protein expressions of α-SMA, SM22α, OPN, PCNA and Ki67 in VSMCs was detected by Western blot. Results ANGPTL8 over-expression promoted the expression of OPN, PCNA and Ki67 in VSMCs (P＜0.05), decreased the expression of α-SMA and SM22α(P＜0.05) and enhanced migration ability of VSMCs(P＜0.05). After adding ERK pathway inhibitor PD98059, the expression of OPN, PCNA and Ki67 decreased (P＜0.05), α-SMA and SM22α expression increased(P＜0.05), and the migration capability of the VSMCs decreased (P＜0.05). Conclusions ANGPTL8 maybe promotes phenotypic transformation of VSMCs by activating ERK pathway.

Keywords

• angiopoietin-like protein 8(angptl8)|erk pathway|vascular smooth muscle cells