Role of thromboxane A2 in mitogenesis of vascular smooth muscle cells

Genetic causation of neointimal hyperplasia in hemodialysis vascular access dysfunction

The major cause of hemodialysis vascular access failure is venous stenosis resulting from neointimal hyperplasia. Genetic factors have been shown to be associated with cardiovascular disease and peripheral vascular disease (PVD) in the general population. Genetic factors may also play an important role in vascular access stenosis and development of neointimal hyperplasia by affecting pathways that lead to inflammation, endothelial function, oxidative stress, and vascular smooth muscle proliferation. This review will discuss the role of genetics in understanding neointimal hyperplasia development in hemodialysis vascular access dysfunction and other disease processes with similar neointimal hyperplasia development such as coronary artery disease and PVD.

Novel uses for anti-platelet agents as anti-inflammatory drugs

An alteration in the character and function of platelets is manifested in patients with inflammatory diseases, and these alterations have been dissociated from the well-characterized involvement of platelets in thrombosis and haemostasis. Recent evidence reveals platelet activation is sometimes critical in the development of inflammation. The mechanisms by which platelets participate in inflammation are diverse, and offer numerous opportunities for future drug intervention. There is now acceptance that platelets act as innate inflammatory cells in immune responses, with roles as sentinel cells undergoing surveillance, responding to microbial invasion, orchestrating leukocyte recruitment, and migrating through tissue, causing damage and influencing repair processes in chronic disease. Some of these processes are targeted by drugs that are being developed to target platelet participation in atherosclerosis. The actions of platelets therefore influence the pathogenesis of diverse inflammatory diseases in various body compartments, encompassing parasitic and bacterial infection, allergic inflammation (especially asthma and rhinitis), and non-atopic inflammatory conditions, for example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and atherosclerosis. This review will first discuss the evidence for platelet activation in these various inflammatory diseases, and secondly discuss the mechanisms by which this pathogenesis occurs and the various anti-platelet agents which have been developed to combat platelet activation in atherosclerosis and their potential future use for the treatment of other inflammatory diseases.

Epidermal-growth-factor receptor and metalloproteinases mediate thromboxane A2-dependent extracellular-signal-regulated kinase activation

The signalling pathways that link G-protein-coupled receptors to mitogen-activated protein kinases involve receptor and non-receptor tyrosine kinases and protein kinase C (PKC). We explored the pathways that are implicated in the thromboxane (TX) A(2)-dependent activation of extracellular-signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) and the role of the two TX receptor (TP) isoforms, TP alpha and TP beta. ERK activation by IBOP, a TX analogue, was dependent on epidermal-growth-factor receptor (EGFR) in TP alpha- or TP beta-transfected cells and in human aortic smooth muscle cells (hASMCs), since AG1478, a selective inhibitor of tyrosine phosphorylation of the EGFR, strongly blocked ERK and EGFR phosphorylation. In addition, EGFR transactivation leading to ERK activation involved matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), since BB2516, an inhibitor of MMP, decreased ERK and EGFR phosphorylation in TP alpha- or TP beta-transfected cells. Moreover, we showed that both isoforms activate ERK phosphorylation in an Src-kinase-dependent manner, whereas PKC was mainly implicated in ERK activation and EGFR phosphorylation by TP beta. In hASMCs, we showed that ERK activation depended on both pertussis-sensitive and -insensitive G alpha-proteins. We demonstrated further that EGFRs, PKC, Src kinase and MMPs are involved in ERK activation by TX. The results of the present study highlight a role for MMPs and PKC in EGFR transactivation triggered by the TPs and demonstrate this mechanism for the first time in primary cells, i.e. hASMCs.

Altered prostanoid production by fibroblasts cultured from the lungs of human subjects with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

BACKGROUND

Prostanoids are known to participate in the process of fibrogenesis. Because lung fibroblasts produce prostanoids and are believed to play a central role in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), we hypothesized that fibroblasts (HF) cultured from the lungs of patients with IPF (HF-IPF) have an altered balance between profibrotic (thromboxane [TX]A2) and antifibrotic (prostacyclin [PGI2]) prostaglandins (PGs) when compared with normal human lung fibroblasts (HF-NL).

METHODS

We measured inducible cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 gene and protein expression, and a profile of prostanoids at baseline and after IL-1beta stimulation.

RESULTS

In both HF-IPF and HF-NL COX-2 expression was undetectable at baseline, but was significantly upregulated by IL-1beta. PGE2 was the predominant COX product in IL-1beta-stimulated cells with no significant difference between HF-IPF and HF-NL (28.35 [9.09-89.09] vs. 17.12 [8.58-29.33] ng/10(6) cells/30 min, respectively; P = 0.25). TXB2 (the stable metabolite of TXA2) production was significantly higher in IL-1beta-stimulated HF-IPF compared to HF-NL (1.92 [1.27-2.57] vs. 0.61 [0.21-1.64] ng/10(6) cells/30 min, respectively; P = 0.007) and the ratio of PGI2 (as measured by its stable metabolite 6-keto-PGF1alpha) to TXB2 was significantly lower at baseline in HF-IPF (0.08 [0.04-0.52] vs. 0.12 [0.11-0.89] in HF-NL; P = 0.028) and with IL-1beta stimulation (0.24 [0.05-1.53] vs. 1.08 [0.51-3.79] in HF-NL; P = 0.09).

CONCLUSION

An alteration in the balance of profibrotic and antifibrotic PGs in HF-IPF may play a role in the pathogeneses of IPF.