Cardiologie clinique et expérimentale
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Abstrait

Upregulation of Autophagy by Angiotensin II Triggers Phenotypic Switching of Aortic Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Yangfeng Tang, Zilin Liao, Zhiyun Xu and Lin Han

Background: Angiotension II (AngII) has important roles on Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell VSMC) biological functions. It has been indicated to promote the synthetic phenotype of VSMC, but the underlying mechanism is still needed to be elucidated.

Methods and Results: In this study, we found AngII infusion promotes a increased form of autophagy characterized by increased expression of Beclin1 and LC3-II in the cultured human aortic vascular smooth muscle cells. The growth of autophagy stimulated by AngII could enhance implication of synthetic proteins in VSMCs, while inhibition of autophagy with spautin-1or 3-MA can encourage the stability of the contractile phenotype in AngIItreated VSMCs.

Conclusion: These results suggest that up regulation of autophagy by AngII contributes to the increase of synthetic phenotype, which triggered the functional change in VSMCs.