Abstract
When exposed to a uni-axial cyclic stretch, cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) align and elongate perpendicular to the stretch axis. Previous studies showed that forskolin inhibited stretch-induced orientation of endothelial cells, suggesting that adenosine3:5-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) plays an important role in the shape change. However, we have recently shown that stretch-induced shape changes in cultured HUVECs are due to increased [Ca2+](i). In the present study, we examined the possible role of cAMP in stretch-induced shape changes in cultured HUVECs. Application of uni-axial cyclic stretch induced a gradual rise in cAMP reaching a peak level at 60 min after the onset of stretch. The adenylate cyclase activator, forskolin, increased the basal level of cAMP but inhibited the rise in [Ca2+](i) resulting in no cell shape changes. In contrast, N 6,2-dibutyryladenosine3:5-cyclic monophosphate (dbcAMP) enhanced the stretch-induced increase in cAMP and [Ca2+](i) and resulted in cell shape changes. On the other hand, 2'5'-dideoxyadenosine (DDA), an adenylate cyclase inhibitor, inhibited stretch-induced increases in cAMP and [Ca2+](i) resulting in no cell shape changes. In summary, our data showed that cell shape changes were consistently dependent on [Ca2+](i) rather than cAMP levels. We conclude that the primary second messenger in the stretch-induced shape changes in HUVECs is intracellular Ca2+ rather than cAMP. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2605-2613 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Life Sciences |
Volume | 67 |
Issue number | 21 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 13 2000 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- DDA
- Forskolin
- Stretch-activated channel
- Uni-axial cyclic stretch
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics(all)