Importance of intracellular Angiotensin II in vascular smooth muscle cell apoptosis: Inhibition by the Angiotensin AT1 receptor antagonist irbesartan Article uri icon

abstract

  • The intracellular uptake of Angiotensin II has been described, although its physiological role is not yet understood. We aimed to study the role of Angiotensin II internalization in Angiotensin II-induced apoptosis. Vascular smooth muscle cells were cultured from male Wistar-Kyoto rats and treated with Angiotensin II (1 μM, 48 h). Apoptosis was assessed by DNA fragmentation, cell cytometry and caspase-3 activity. The Angiotensin AT1 receptor antagonist irbesartan (0.1-10 μM) and the inhibitors of Angiotensin II internalization phenylarsine oxide (PAO, 20 μM), but not the AT2 receptor antagonist PD123319 (S-(%2b)-1-[(4-(Dimethylamino)-3-methylphenyl)methyl]-5-(diphenylacetyl)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-c]pyridine-6-carboxylic acid di(trifluoroacetate) salt), decreased Angiotensin II-mediated apoptosis. Pre-treatment with irbesartan, but not with PD123319, blocked Angiotensin II internalization. We found a strong correlation between intracellular Angiotensin II staining and Angiotensin II-induced apoptosis for all compared groups. We therefore conclude that internalization of Angiotensin II is involved in apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells induced by this peptide. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

publication date

  • 2007-01-01