The regulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ on apoptotic related genes p53 and bcl-2in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells

AIM: We sought to evaluate the expression of apoptosis related genes, p53 and bcl-2 , in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in which apoptosis was induced by the ligands of PPARγ-ox-LDL,ciglitazone and 15-deoxy-△^12,14-PGJ₂,and then influenced by PGF_2α,an antagonist of PPARγ. To clarify whether PPARγ is involved in the regulations of p53 and bcl-2 .METHODS: Rat aorta smooth muscle cells were isolated and cultured in DMEM containing 10%FBS. ox-LDL,ciglitazone and 15 d-PGJ₂ were added into the medium for 24 h, respectively. Using PGF_2α to inhibit PPARγ activation via activation of MAP kinase. We employed the flow cytometry analysis to quantitatively analyze the apoptosis of VSMCs. Also, we measured and analyzed the discrepancies of the expression of p53 and bcl-2 between every groups. RESULTS: During the process of apoptosis induced by PPARγ,the expression of P53 protein increased (P＜0.05)and the Bcl-2 diminished. Inhibition of PPARγ through PGF_2α attenuated such influences. CONCLUSION: In the apoptosis of VSMCs, the activation of PPARγ changes the expression of p53 and bcl-2. We suppose that the apoptosis of VSMCs is partly due to changes of expression of apoptotic genes regulated by PPARγ.