TY - JOUR
T1 - Induction of apoptosis by pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate and N-acetylcysteine in vascular smooth muscle cells
AU - Tsai, Jer Chia
AU - Jain, Mukesh
AU - Hsieh, Chung Ming
AU - Lee, Wen Sen
AU - Yoshizumi, Masao
AU - Patterson, Cam
AU - Perrella, Mark A.
AU - Cooke, Carol
AU - Wang, Hong
AU - Haber, Edgar
AU - Schlegel, Robert
AU - Lee, Mu En
PY - 1996/2/16
Y1 - 1996/2/16
N2 - Pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) have been used as antioxidants to prevent apoptosis in lymphocytes, neurons, and vascular endothelial cells. We report here that PDTC and NAC induce apoptosis in rat and human smooth muscle cells. In rat aortic smooth muscle cells, PDTC induced cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation, and DNA strand breaks consistent with apoptosis. In addition, overexpression of Bcl-2 suppressed vascular smooth muscle cell death caused by PDTC and NAC. The viability of rat aortic smooth muscle cells decreased within 3 h of treatment with PDTC and was reduced to 30% at 12 h. The effect of PDTC and NAC on smooth muscle cells was not species specific because PDTC and NAC both caused dose- dependent reductions in viability in rat and human aortic smooth muscle cells. In contrast, neither PDTC nor NAC reduced viability in human aortic endothelial cells. The use of antioxidants to induce apoptosis in vascular smooth muscle cells may help prevent their proliferation in arteriosclerotic lesions.
AB - Pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) have been used as antioxidants to prevent apoptosis in lymphocytes, neurons, and vascular endothelial cells. We report here that PDTC and NAC induce apoptosis in rat and human smooth muscle cells. In rat aortic smooth muscle cells, PDTC induced cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation, and DNA strand breaks consistent with apoptosis. In addition, overexpression of Bcl-2 suppressed vascular smooth muscle cell death caused by PDTC and NAC. The viability of rat aortic smooth muscle cells decreased within 3 h of treatment with PDTC and was reduced to 30% at 12 h. The effect of PDTC and NAC on smooth muscle cells was not species specific because PDTC and NAC both caused dose- dependent reductions in viability in rat and human aortic smooth muscle cells. In contrast, neither PDTC nor NAC reduced viability in human aortic endothelial cells. The use of antioxidants to induce apoptosis in vascular smooth muscle cells may help prevent their proliferation in arteriosclerotic lesions.
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U2 - 10.1074/jbc.271.7.3667
DO - 10.1074/jbc.271.7.3667
M3 - Article
C2 - 8631978
AN - SCOPUS:13344279414
VL - 271
SP - 3667
EP - 3670
JO - Journal of Biological Chemistry
JF - Journal of Biological Chemistry
SN - 0021-9258
IS - 7
ER -