We examined the mechanism of action of lysophosphatidylcholine (lyso-PC), which is suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and inflamatory disorders, and its interaction with well-known vasoactive compounds such as hydrogen peroxide (H
2O
2), thromboxane A
2 (TX-A
2), serotonin (5-HT), angiotensin II (Ang-II), endothelin-1 (ET-1), or urotensin II (U-II) on VSMC proliferation. Growth-arrested rabbit VSMCs were incubated with given concentrations of lyso-PC with H
2O
2, TX-A
2, 5-HT, Ang-II, ET-1, or U-II. [
3H]Thymidine incorporation into DNA was measured as an index of VSMC proliferation. Lyso-PC induced a maximal effect on [
3H]thymidine incorporation at a concentration of 15
μM (156%), and its effect was significantly inhibited by the phospholipase C inhibitor U73122 (10
μM), the intracellular antioxidant NAC (400
μM), and the NADPH oxidase inhibitor diphenylene iodonium (1
μM), but not by the MAPK kinase inhibitor (10
μM). H
2O
2, TX-A
2, 5-HT, Ang-II, ET-1, or U-II also stimulated [
3H]thymidine incorporation in a dose-dependent manner. A non-mitogenic concentration of lyso-PC (5
μM) significantly potentiated the effect of low concentrations of H
2O
2 (0.1
μM, 110 to 222%), TX-A
2 (5
μM, 120 to 202%), 5-HT (5
μM, 182 to 259%), Ang-II (0.5
μM, 167 to 304%), ET-1 (0.01
μM, 139 to 297%), or U-II (0.025
μM, 120 to 332%) on [
3H]thymidine incorporation. The results suggest that lyso-PC acts synergistically with the vasoactive compounds H
2O
2, TX-A
2, 5-HT, Ang-II, ET-1, or U-II in inducing VSMC proliferation, which may play an important role in the progression of atherosclerosis.
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