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Biomedical subjects

M S Aronow

Publications and source records attributed to M S Aronow.

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Pleiotropic effects of vitamin D on osteoblast gene expression are related to the proliferative and differentiated state of the bone cell phenotype: dependency upon basal levels of gene expression, duration of exposure, and bone matrix competency in normal rat osteoblast cultures.

Normal rat osteoblasts in culture undergo a developmental sequence consisting of a proliferation period in which high levels of the histone and collagen type I genes are expressed, followed by periods of matrix maturation [high levels of alkaline phosphatase (AP)] and mineralization that signal a high level of production of osteopontin (OP) and osteocalcin (OC). Since these parameters are regulated by vitamin D, the effects of both short term and chronic treatment with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 were examined during osteoblast growth and differentiation. In acute studies, during the proliferation period, histone mRNA (reflecting DNA synthesis) was inhibited (20-60%). Matrix Gla protein (MGP) and OP mRNA were significantly elevated during proliferation (30- and 15-fold), in contrast to OC which is not expressed and was not induced by hormone treatment. OP and MGP remained stimulated throughout the developmental sequence, but to a lesser degree (from 6- to 10-fold). Collagen and AP mRNA were inhibited by hormone at their peak levels of expression, but were stimulated at their lowest basal levels in the mineralization period. OC expression, which was initiated at the onset of mineralization, was stimulated 13- to 15-fold when basal levels were low, then from 6- to 8-fold by hormone throughout its period of expression. In chronic studies a different profile of gene expression was observed. When hormone treatment was initiated during the proliferation period on day 6, type I collagen and AP expression were suppressed, mineralized nodules did not develop, and induced levels of OP and OC gene expression did not occur. When chronic treatment was initiated on day 20 after the development of a mineralized matrix, OC, but not collagen and OP, levels were stimulated by the hormone. This observation is consistent with the requirement of a competent or mineralized bone matrix for expression of OC. In contrast, MGP expression was stimulated in the chronic vitamin D-treated cultures similar to acute treatments. Taken together these studies demonstrate that vitamin D, a physiological mediator of bone formation and remodelling, can both positively and negatively regulate expression of osteoblast phenotypic markers as a function of duration of hormone treatment and basal levels of gene expression, which is a reflection of bone matrix competency and the differentiated state of the osteoblast.

Animals

Angiotensin II-stimulated Na+/H+ exchange in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells. Evidence for protein kinase C-dependent and -independent pathways.

Angiotensin II, a potent vasoconstrictor, is known to stimulate Ca2+ mobilization and Na+ influx in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). The fact that the Na+/H+ exchange inhibitor, amiloride, blocks angiotensin II-stimulated Na+ influx and is itself a vasodilator suggests that Na+/H+ exchange may play a role in the angiotensin II-mediated effects on VSMC. We have used a pH-sensitive fluorescent dye to study Na+/H+ exchange in cultured rat aortic VSMC. Basal intracellular pH was 7.08 in physiological saline buffer. Angiotensin II stimulation caused an initial transient acidification, followed by a Na+-dependent alkalinization. Angiotensin II increased the rate of alkalinization with apparent threshold, half-maximal, and maximal effect of 0.01, 3, and 100 nM, respectively. Angiotensin II stimulation appeared to be mediated by a shift in the Km of the Na+/H+ exchanger for extracellular Na+. Since angiotensin II activates phospholipase C in VSMC, we tested the possibility that angiotensin II increased Na+/H+ exchange by activation of protein kinase C via stimulation of diacylglycerol formation. The phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), stimulated Na+/H+ exchange in VSMC cultured for 24 h in serum-free medium, and the subsequent angiotensin II response was inhibited. However, VSMC grown in serum and treated for 24 h with TPA to decrease protein kinase C activity showed no inhibition of angiotensin II-stimulated Na+/H+ exchange. TPA caused no intracellular alkalinization of VSMC grown in serum, while the angiotensin II response was actually enhanced compared to VSMC deprived of serum for 24 h. We conclude that angiotensin II stimulates an amiloride-sensitive Na+/H+ exchange system in cultured VSMC which is mediated by protein kinase C-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Angiotensin II-mediated Na+ influx and intracellular alkalinization may play a role in excitation-response coupling in vascular smooth muscle.

Angiotensin II

Significance of echocardiographic left atrial enlargement in aortic stenosis.

This study investigated the significance of echocardiographic left atrial enlargement as measured by the left atrial dimension corrected for body surface area in 24 patients with pure aortic stenosis established by cardiac catheterization. Echocardiographic evidence of left atrial enlargement occurred in 11 of 15 patients (73%) with an aortic valve area below 0.8 cm2 and in none of nine patients (0%) with an aortic valve area above 0.8 cm2, p less than 0.0025. All 11 patients (100%) with an enlarged left atrial dimension had an increased diastolic left ventricular dimension, whereas 1 of 13 patients (8%) with a normal left atrial dimension had an increased diastolic left ventricular dimension, p less than 0.00001. The 11 patients (100%) with an enlarged left atrial dimension had increased posterior left ventricular wall thickness, whereas 2 of 13 patients (13%) with a normal left atrial dimension had increased posterior left ventricular wall thickness (p less than 0.0005). These data lead one to conclude that in patients with pure aortic stenosis, echocardiographic evidence of left atrial enlargement as measured by an increased left atrial dimension corrected for body surface area should lead one to suspect severe aortic stenosis.

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