Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Cigarette smoke extract induces migration of rat vascular smooth muscle cells through regulation of expressions of MOB2 and LATS1

Jing Zhang^1,2, Wei Zhou³, Shenghu He², Yang Qian^2,4, Daxin Wang¹

¹School of Medicine, Yangzhou University; ²Department of Cardiology, Northern Jiangsu People’s Hospital; ³Department of Hematology and Rheumatology, Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University; ⁴Dalian Medical University, Yangzhou City, China.

For correspondence:-

Accepted: 3 March 2021 Published: 31 March 2021

Citation: Zhang J, Zhou W, He S, Qian Y, Wang D. Cigarette smoke extract induces migration of rat vascular smooth muscle cells through regulation of expressions of MOB2 and LATS1. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(3):551-557 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i3.16

© 2021 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To study the impact of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on the migratory capacity of rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), and the likely mechanism of action involved.

Methods: Rat VSMCs were exposed to varying concentrations of CSE. The migration capacity of the cells was determined by Transwell migration assay and scratch test. Protein and RNA expression levels of LATS1 (large tumor suppressor kinase 1) and MOB2 (monopolar spindle-one-binder protein 2) were assayed using immunoblotting and quantitative real-time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), respectively.

Results: The results showed that within a certain concentration range, the migratory capacity of VSMCs increased as the concentration of CSE increased (p < 0.05). In contrast, the protein and RNA expressions of LATS1 and MOB2 were negatively correlated with CSE concentrations (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: CSE promotes abnormal migration of rat VSMCs by inhibiting the expressions of LATS1 and MOB2 associated with Hippo signaling pathway. Thus, smoking may induce vascular remodeling and cardiovascular events via this mechanism.

Keywords: Cigarette smoke extract, Migration, Vascular smooth muscle cells, MOB2, LATS1