Regulation of Endothelin-B Receptor mRNA Expression in Human Endothelial Cells by Cytokines and Growth Factors

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Abstract
The regulation of endothelin-B receptor (ETB) mRNA expression in human endothelial cells (ECs) by cytokines and growth factors may play an important role in the response of the endothelium to inflammatory and angiogenic stimuli. Using quantitative RT-PCR, we studied ETB expression in human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs) grown in culture on either plastic or fibrin matrix for 24 h in the presence or absence of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α, 100 U/ml) or basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF, 30 ng/ml). In addition, the effect of the nitric oxide (NO) donor S-nitrosyl-acetylpenicillamine(SNAP, 0.4 mM) was examined directly on ETB expression or on the response to bFGF. Under control conditions, ETB mRNA was detected after 35 cycles of amplification as a band of the expected size (553 bp). In the absence of fibrin matrix, ETB was downregulated by bFGF and TNF-α and could barely be detected by PCR. Southern analysis of the RT-PCR products after 25 cycles revealed that bFGF reduced ETB mRNA expression by 2.7 ± 0.4-fold (pp