Hypernuclear acetylation in atherosclerotic lesions and activated vascular smooth muscle cells.
Kawahara K,
Watanabe S,
Ohshima T,
Soejima Y,
Oishi T,
Aratani S,
Nakata M,
Shibata M,
Inoue K,
Amano T,
Fujii R,
Yanai K,
Hagiwara M,
Fukamizu A,
Maruyama I,
Nakajima T.
Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima, 890-8520, Japan.
Recent studies have implicated acetylation of several nuclear proteins such as histones and p53 on their epsilon-portion of lysine residues in eukaryotic transcription. Here we raised a specific polyclonal antibody against epsilon-acetylated lysine. Using the antibody, we detected hypernuclear acetylation (HNA) in atherosclerotic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Thrombin, a humoral factor known to cause activation and proliferation of VSMCs, strongly potentiated HNA in cultured VSMCs. MAP kinase pathway and a signal coactivator CREB binding protein (CBP) were involved in thrombin-induced HNA of VSMCs. Our results suggest that coactivators cooperating with signal-dependent transcription activators play an important role in atherosclerogenesis via HNA in VSMCs. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.
PMID: 10600518 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]