TYPE-I COLLAGEN-SYNTHESIS IN CULTURED AORTIC SMOOTH-MUSCLE CELLS FROMSPONTANEOUSLY HYPERTENSIVE RATS AND NORMOTENSIVE CONTROL, WISTAR-KYOTO RATS

An inhibition ELISA was used to quantify the amount of type I collagen synthesized in culture media and cell layers from aortic smooth muscl e cells (SMCs) of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensi ve control, Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). Cultured cells were also observed by electron microscopy. Collagen content in the culture media was str ongly increased after 6 days in both cultures. Collagen and protein co ntents in the medium and cell layer from SHR were significantly higher than those in WKY at day 14. However, cell density in SHR-derived cel ls was also higher than that of WKY. No significant differences were d etected in the rates of collagen content between SHR and WKY on a per cell basis. The main differences between SHR and WKY in collagen and p rotein levels may be due to the greater number of SHR cells and increa sed amounts of extracellular matrix components. The assay system outli ned here should be useful for studying the control of extracellular-ma trix synthesis.