Wj. Zhang et al., EFFECT OF NOTOGINSENOSIDE R1 ON THE SYNTHESIS OF COMPONENTS OF THE FIBRINOLYTIC SYSTEM IN CULTURED SMOOTH-MUSCLE CELLS OF HUMAN PULMONARY-ARTERY, Cellular and molecular biology, 43(4), 1997, pp. 581-587
We have previously reported that notoginsenoside R1 (NG-R1) increases
the synthesis of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and decrease
s plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) activity in cultured human
endothelial cells from different vascular sources. It was the aim of
this study to investigate whether the effect of NG-R1 on the synthesis
of components of the fibrinolytic system is also operative in another
cell type of the blood vessel wall, the smooth muscle cell. Therefore
cultured human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (HPASMCs) were tr
eated with NG-R1. When the HPASMCs (passage 4 or 5) were conditioned w
ith NG-R1, a dose (0.01-100 mu g NG-RL/ml for 24 hrs.) dependent incre
ase in t-PA and u-PA synthesis was observed, which was significant fro
m 1 mu g NG-R1/ml on. t-PA antigen increased from 2.4+/-0.1 to 4.7+/-0
.5 ng/10(5) cells/24 hrs.; u-PA antigen increased from 1.8+/-0.1 to 3.
0+/-0.4 ng/10(5) cells/24 hrs. In contrast no change in PAI-1 antigen
synthesis was seen in the conditioned media from NG-R1 treated HPASMCs
. On Northern blot analysis of mRNA obtained from NG-R1-stimulated and
control HPASMCs NG-R1 induced a significant increases in mRNA levels
of t-PA and u-PA (180% and 200% of control value, respectively) at 100
mu g NG-R1/ml while PAI-I mRNA decreased slightly. In conclusion our
data give evidence that NG-R1 can increase the fibrinolytic potential
in cultured HPASMCs in vitro by increasing the production of t-PA and
u-PA. If operative in vivo this effect of NG-R1 on the fibrinolytic sy
stem of SMCs might also contribute to the effect of the Chinese herb d
rug Panax notoginseng in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.