Objective: To study the effect of hypoxic endothelial cell conditioned medium on the autocrine of PDGF in porcine pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMC).
Methods: Experimental groups included serum-free medium group (control group), normoxic endothelial cell conditioned medium (NECCM) group and hypoxic endothelial cell conditioned medium (HECCM) group. The expression of PDGF-A and -B chain mRNA was determined by in situ hybridization and image analysis.
Results: A weak expression for PDGF-A and PDGF-B mRNA was observed in PASMC cultured in serum free medium (control group); HECCM markedly enhanced the expression of PDGF-A and PDGF-B mRNA in PASMC, both being about 1.8-fold and 1.73-fold of the control group respectively, and 1.4-fold and 1.5-fold of the NECCM group respectively (P < 0.01).
Conclusion: PDGF may be an autocrine growth factor of PASMC induced by HECCM and may play an important role in vascular structural remodeling of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.