0000000000462139
AUTHOR
Christian Burkhardt
Dual effect of ceramide on human endothelial cells: induction of oxidative stress and transcriptional upregulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase.
Background— Generation of the second-messenger molecule ceramide by stimulated sphingomyelinase activity has been implicated in the inflammatory processes contributing to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. However, reports of stimulatory effects of ceramide on endothelial NO production in animal models suggest antiatherosclerotic effects of the molecule. Therefore, we investigated long-term effects of ceramide on NO generation in human endothelial cells. Methods and Results— In human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and in HUVEC-derived EA.hy 926 endothelial cells, C6-ceramide ( N -hexanoyl- d -erythro-sphingosine) reduced the generation of bioactive NO (RFL-6 reporter-cell assa…
Histamine Upregulates Gene Expression of Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase in Human Vascular Endothelial Cells
Background— Histamine has a short-term, transient, stimulating effect on endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity; however, long-term effects on eNOS have not been described yet. In addition, the vascular effect of histamine seems to depend critically on eNOS functionality. Therefore, we studied the effects of histamine on eNOS gene expression and function. Methods and Results— In human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and HUVEC-derived EA.hy 926 cells, histamine upregulated eNOS mRNA (RNase protection assay) and protein (electron microscopic immunocytochemistry) expression. The upregulation of eNOS could be prevented by mepyramine, a selective antagonist at the H 1 recep…