Antisense fosB RNA inhibits thrombin-induced hypertrophy in cultured pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells.

BACKGROUND

We have previously reported that fosB mRNA is induced by hypertrophic stimuli (thrombin, angiotensin II) but not proliferative stimuli (platelet-derived growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor) in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) (J Biol Chem. 1994;9:6399-6404). Our aim in the present study was to investigate the potential role of FosB in PASMC hypertrophy.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Adenoviruses carrying sense or antisense fosB RNA expression cassettes were used to infect cultured PASMCs with the aim of increasing or inhibiting fosB expression, respectively. We examined whether fosB expression modification affected the growth of quiescent PASMCs, thrombin-induced hypertrophy, or platelet-derived growth factor-induced proliferation. PASMC growth was assessed by daily cell number count, determination of [3H]leucine incorporation, and quantification of total cellular protein. Neither an increase nor a decrease in FosB protein expression caused a significant change in the growth of quiescent PASMCs over a period of 96 hours, indicating that FosB alone is not sufficient to induce hypertrophy. Modification of FosB levels did not affect platelet-derived growth factor-induced PASMC proliferation. An increase in FosB expression did not augment thrombin-induced hypertrophy; however, inhibition of FosB expression resulted in a diminution of thrombin-induced hypertrophy by 58+/-6% (P<0.005).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that FosB is necessary but not sufficient for thrombin-induced hypertrophy in cultured PASMCs.