17β-Estradiol Inhibits Angiotensin II-Induced Cardiac Myofibroblast Differentiation
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-15-2009
Description
Cardiac fibroblasts play an important role in myocardial remodeling by proliferating, differentiating, and secreting extracellular matrix proteins. Estrogen has been reported to have a number of cardioprotective properties. However, it is unclear whether estrogen affects cardiac fibroblast differentiation. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of estrogen on angiotensin II-induced cardiac fibroblast proliferation and differentiation. Cardiac fibroblasts were stimulated with angiotensin II (1 μM) in the presence or absence of 17β-estradiol (100 nM). Pretreatment of cardiac fibroblasts with 17β-estradiol significantly inhibited angiotensin II-induced cardiac fibroblast proliferation and differentiation (indicated by a reduction in alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression) by 25% and 20%. Pretreatment of 17β-estradiol significantly reduced angiotensin II-increased levels of phospho-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) by 40% and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) binding activity in cardiac fibroblasts by 55%. Our data suggests estrogen could have an anti-fibrotic effect through limiting cardiac fibroblast proliferation and differentiation, which are the critical steps in the pathogenesis of cardiac fibrosis.
Citation Information
Wu, Meiling; Han, Mei; Li, Jing; Xu, Xuan; Li, Ting; Que, Lingli; Ha, Tuanzhu; Li, Chuanfu; Chen, Qi; and Li, Yuehua. 2009. 17β-Estradiol Inhibits Angiotensin II-Induced Cardiac Myofibroblast Differentiation. European Journal of Pharmacology. Vol.616(1-3). 155-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejphar.2009.05.016 PMID: 19470381 ISSN: 0014-2999