The synergistic effect of endothelin-1 and basic fibroblast growth factor on rat vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation

AIM: The synergistic effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) on rat aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) proliferation was observed. The possible mechanism of the synergism was also investigated. METHODS: BrdU incorporation and cell counting method were adopted to value the pro-proliferative effect of VSMC. Western blotting was used to observe the variation of bFGF and FGFR-1 isoforms expression. RESULTS: bFGF and ET-1 could promote VSMC proliferation separately, and synergistically in combination. The synergism was dose- and time-dependent. ET-1 increased all the three bFGF isoforms and FGFR-1 protein level in dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, after exhaustion of intracellular PKC, the upregulation effects of ET-1 on bFGF and FGFR-1 expressions in VSMC both inclined. CONCLUSION: bFGF and ET-1 had synergistic effect on VSMC proliferation. ET-1 may increase the responsiveness of VSMC to bFGF through modulation of bFGF isoforms together with FGFR-1, which was PKC-dependent.