Vascular gene expression in mice overexpressing human endothelin-1 targeted to the endothelium

Endothelin-1 (ET-1), an endothelium-derived vasoconstrictor peptide, plays a role in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease. Transgenic mice that overexpress human preproET-1 selectively in the endothelium (eET-1) exhibit endothelial dysfunction, hypertrophic remodeling and vascular inflammation of resistance-size arteries in the absence of blood pressure elevation. To understand the mechanisms whereby ET-1 induces vascular damage, vascular gene expression using DNA microarrays was employed. RNA from mesenteric arteries of female and male young (6-7 weeks) and mature (6-8 months) eET-1 and wild type (WT) mice was isolated and changes in gene expression were determined by genome-wide expression profiling using Illumina microarray. This study revealed a set of genes potentially regulated by ET-1, which might be implicated in ET-1 induced-vascular damage.

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Simeone SM, Li MW, Paradis P, Schiffrin EL