AIM: The role of protein kinase C(PKC) in the effect of Interleukin-6(IL-6) on basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF) expression was investigated in rat vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMC). METHODS: Western-blotting was adopted to observe the variation of bFGF and its receptor type I isoforms expression. RESULTS: IL-6 increased all the three basic fibroblast growth factor isoforms in a dose-dependent (0-10.0 ?g/L) manner. The upregulatory activities peaked at 24 h as demonstrated . In addition, after exhaustion of intracellular phorbol ester-sensitive PKC, the upregulatory effects of IL-6 on bFGF exprssion in VSMC declined ( P

AIM: To investigate whether or not short-term high pressur e proliferates human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), and the role of pp60c-src in cell proliferation. METHODS: Cultured HUVECs of 3-6th passa ge were exposed to atmosphere 0 mmHg (AP), 120 mmHg (MP), 180 mmHg (HP) and interfered with cap top ril(Cap, 10 ?mol/L)or irbesartan(Irb, 10 ?mol/L) Cell proliferation was q uantified by measuring hexosaminidase activity. The content of pp 60 c-src in cells was investigated by Western blotting. RESULTS:① Hexos aminidase activities which reflected cell number increased significantly at 4 h in MP and HP(0 145?0 018 and 0 144?0 019 vs 0 118?0 003,P