Age-related increase in the migration of aortic smooth muscle cells induced by 12-L-hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetranoic acid.

Studies were made on how age influenced the migration of aortic smooth muscle cells. For this, aortic cells from rats of various ages were established in culture in vitro and migration of the cells was measured by the filter membrane technique in modified Boyden chambers. 12-L-Hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acid (12-HETE), which is mainly produced by platelets and leukocytes and is a strong chemoattractant for rat aortic smooth muscle cells, was used at a concentration of 6 X 10(-15) g/ml in this work. Proliferation of smooth muscle cells decreased significantly with age, but the plating efficiency and cell size did not. In contrast, cell migration induced by 12-HETE showed an age-related increase: The 12-HETE-induced cell migration activities of cells from 6- and 25-month-old rates were 226.7 +/- 35.4 and 223.2 +/- 37.9 cells/10 high-power fields (HPF), respectively, which were significantly higher than that of 121.4 +/- 20.1 cells/10 HPF for cells from 2-month-old rats (P less than 0.05). There was no age-related change in the dose-response curve to 12-HETE for migration of smooth muscle cells. The observed changes are closely associated with the processes of development and maturation of rat aorta.