Abstract
To investigate the involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in the pathogenesis of the cardiovascular system with aging, we studied the basal release of NO in cultured endothelial cells isolated from normal human umbilical veins (HUVECs) at different population doubling levels (PDLs). The release of NO was assayed by a newly established, highly sensitive assay system monitoring guanosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) formation in a pig kidney epithelial cell line cocultured with HUVECs. The cGMP formation by NO released from HUVECs decreased 3.3-fold between PDLs 8 (14.1 pmol/ml) and 50 (4.3 pmol/ml) (P < 0.01). The result suggests that the vaso-constrictive activity of endothelial cells increases during in vitro aging which may reflect the increased vascular disorders in aged people.
Publication types
-
Comparative Study
-
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
-
1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine / pharmacology
-
Amino Acid Oxidoreductases / metabolism*
-
Animals
-
Arginine / analogs & derivatives
-
Arginine / pharmacology
-
Cell Division / drug effects
-
Cell Line
-
Cells, Cultured
-
Cellular Senescence
-
Cerebellum / enzymology
-
Cyclic GMP / metabolism
-
Endothelium, Vascular / cytology*
-
Endothelium, Vascular / enzymology*
-
Epithelium / drug effects
-
Epithelium / metabolism
-
Humans
-
Kidney
-
Kinetics
-
Mice
-
Mice, Inbred Strains
-
Neurons / enzymology
-
Nitric Oxide / analysis
-
Nitric Oxide / metabolism*
-
Nitric Oxide / pharmacology
-
Nitric Oxide Synthase
-
Nitroarginine
-
Nitroprusside / pharmacology*
-
Tumor Cells, Cultured
-
Umbilical Veins
Substances
-
Nitroprusside
-
Nitroarginine
-
Nitric Oxide
-
Arginine
-
Nitric Oxide Synthase
-
Amino Acid Oxidoreductases
-
Cyclic GMP
-
1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine