Abstract:

Objective  To investigate the role of CPI-17 in atherosclerosis by inducing the phenotype changing in vascular smooth muscle cells. Methods  We established an atherosclerotic plaque model using ApoE=knockout mice, separated the carotid artery and extracted the total RNA, detected the level of CPI-17 mRNA in both atherosclerotic plaque and normal artery of C57BL/6 mice. Smooth muscle α-actin and sm-MHC were also detected. Furthermore, MOVAS cells were stimulated separately using two methods: ox-LDL at 50mg/L and cultured under hypoxia. The expression of CPI-17 was determined in these cells. Results  The level of CPI17 mRNA in atherosclerotic plaque of ApoE-knockout mice was significantly lower than that in C57BL/6 mice. The expression of smooth muscle α-actin and smooth muscle myosin heavy chain(sm-MHC) were down-regulated in atherosclerotic plaque in comparison with normal artery. The level of CPI-17 mRNA was down-regulated in MOVAS cells stimulated with ox-LDL and cultured under hypoxia. Conclusion  CPI-17 may play important role during atherosclerosis by inducing phenotype changing of vascular smooth muscle cells.

Key words: Gene, CPI-17; Vascular smooth muscle cell; Atherosclerosis; Quantitative polymerase chain reaction