Statins upregulates TGF-β receptor type II (TRII) (a) and TGF-β synthesis in VSMCs (b).

<p>Serum starved VSMCs were incubated for 48h with several concentrations (10⁻⁴ to 10⁻⁷ mol/L) of Simvastatin (SV) or Atorvastatin (ATV). Some cells were pretreated for 1h with 5 µg/mL FPP or GGPP or 10⁻⁴ mol/L mevalonate (MEV) before statin treatment. RhoA/ROCK inhibition increases TRII in VSMCs (c) and TGF-β synthesis in VSMCs (b). c. Serum starved VSMCs were incubated for 48h with FTI-277 or GGTI-286(10-5 Mol/L), C3 exoenzyme (10 µg/mL), NSC-23766 (50mMol/L) or Y-27632 (10-5 to 10-7 mol/L). Figures a and c show in the lower panel representative western blot of TRII expression and in the upper panel relative TRII protein levels expressed as mean±SEM of 4 experiments. Figure b shows TGF-β content measured in conditioned media by ELISA. Data are expressed as mean±SEM of n-fold of increase vs unstimulated cells from 4 experiments. *p<0.05 vs. control. ¥ p<0.05 vs. SV 10-4 Mol/L.