Abstract

Objective To investigate the effects of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and endothelin-3 (ET-3) on the expression of transformation growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) and phosphorylation of Smad 3 in malignant melanoma cell line, A375. Methods Cultured A375 cells were classified into 5 groups, i.e. control group (no stimulation), ET-1 group (stimulated with ET-1), ET-1 + BQ123 group (treated with ET-1 and BQ123), ET-1 + BQ788 group (treated with ET-1 and BQ788), ET-3 group (stimulated with ET-3), to receive different stimulation. The working concentrations were 0, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 nmol/L for ET-1 and ET-3, 10 μmol/L for BQ123 and BQ788. After another 12- and 24-hour culture, ELISA, RT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression of TGF-β1 protein and mRNA as well as phosphorylated Smad 3 (P-Smad 3). Results The expression of TGF-β1 in A375 cells was up-regulated by ET-1, but down-regulated by ET-3, and both of the effects were in a concentration-dependent manner. Under the stimulation with ET-1 and ET-3 of 100 nmol/L, the level of TGF-β1 reached 1289.38 ± 89.42 ng/L per 10~5 cells and 85.09 ± 9.37 ng/L per 10~5 cells, respectively, significantly different from that in unstimulated cells (both P< 0.05). BQ123 signifi-cantly blocked the up-regulatory effect of ET-1 on the expression TGF-pi protein(P < 0.05), but BQ788 had no significant influence on the effect, so was the case with TGF-β1 mRNA. Western blot revealed that ET-1 significantly elevated the expression of P-Smad 3 in A375 cells (P < 0.05), and the elevation was significantly inhibited by BQ123, but not by BQ788. The expression of P-Smad 3 was statistically decreased by ET-3 in A375 cells (P< 0.05). Conclusions The expression of TGF-β1 could be enhanced by ET-1, but suppressed by ET-3. It is likely that endothelin receptor A mediates the phosphorylation of Smad 3 induced by ET-1. Key words: Melanoma; Endothelins; Receptor; endothelin A; Transforming growth factor-beta 1

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