@article{
author = "Smiljanić, Katarina and Obradović, Milan and Jovanovic, Aleksandra and Popović-Đorđević, Jelena and Dobutović, Branislava and Jevremovic, Danimir and Marche, Pierre and Isenovic, Esma R.",
year = "2014",
abstract = "In this study, the role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2), heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF), general metalloproteinases, matrix metalloproteinases-2 (MMP-2) in mediating the mitogenic action of thrombin in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) was investigated. The incubation of rat VSMC with thrombin (1 U/ml) for 5 min resulted in significant (p lt 0.001) increase of ERK1/2 phosphorylation by 8.7 +/- A 0.9-fold, EGFR phosphorylation by 8.5 +/- A 1.3-fold (p lt 0.001) and DNA synthesis by 3.6 +/- A 0.4-fold (p lt 0.001). Separate 30-min pretreatments with EGFR tyrosine kinase irreversible inhibitor, 10 A mu M PD169540 (PD), and 20 A mu M anti-HB-EGF antibody significantly reduced thrombin-stimulated EGFR and ERK1/2 phosphorylation by 81, 72 % and by 48 and 61 %, respectively. Furthermore, the same pretreatments with PD or anti-HB-EGF antibody reduced thrombin-induced VSMC proliferation by 44 and 45 %, respectively. In addition, 30-min pretreatments with 10 A mu M specific MMP-2 inhibitor significantly reduced thrombin-stimulated phosphorylation of both EGFR and ERK1/2 by 25 %. Moreover, the same pretreatment with MMP-2 inhibitor reduced thrombin-induced VSMC proliferation by 45 %. These results show that the thrombin-induced DNA synthesis correlates with the level of ERK1/2 activation rather than EGFR activation. These results further suggest that thrombin acts through EGFR and ERK 1/2 signaling pathways involving MMP-2 to upregulate proliferation of VSMC.",
publisher = "Springer, Dordrecht",
journal = "Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry",
title = "Thrombin stimulates VSMC proliferation through an EGFR-dependent pathway: involvement of MMP-2",
volume = "396",
number = "1-2",
pages = "147-160",
doi = "10.1007/s11010-014-2151-y"
}