Akt plays a central role in the anti-apoptotic effect of estrogen in endothelial cells |
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Authors: | Koga Miho Hirano Katsuya Hirano Mayumi Nishimura Junji Nakano Hitoo Kanaide Hideo |
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Institution: | Division of Molecular Cardiology, Research Institute of Angiocardiology, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan. |
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Abstract: | Estrogen has been reported to inhibit apoptosis in vascular endothelial cells. However, its precise mechanism still remains to be elucidated. Here we determined the role of Akt in the anti-apoptotic effect of estrogen. 17Beta-estradiol prevented the apoptosis induced by TNF-alpha in bovine aortic endothelial cells, as evaluated by double staining with fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated annexin V and propidium iodide. Introducing a dominant negative mutant of Akt by using a cell-penetrating peptide of Tat protein inhibited the anti-apoptotic effect of estrogen in a concentration-dependent manner, and resulted in the complete inhibition of the anti-apoptotic effect of 17beta-estradiol at 1nM and higher concentrations. The dominant negative mutant without the cell-penetrating peptide and Tat peptide-conjugated protein A had no effect. The intracellular protein transduction was confirmed by immunoblot analysis. Our observations thus provide first direct evidence that Akt plays a central role in the anti-apoptotic effect of estrogen in vascular endothelial cells. |
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Keywords: | Akt Apoptosis Endothelial cell Estrogen Protein transduction |
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