Ataxia telangiectasia mutated: The potential negative regulator in platelet-derived growth factor-BB promoted proliferation of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells.

Objective: To study the role of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) in the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB-induced proliferation of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) through reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation.

Methods: Primary cultures of PASMCs were treated with different concentrations of PDGF-BB or exogenous hydrogen peroxide (HO). The activation level of ATM and the proliferation level of PASMCs were measured by immunofluorescence staining and Cell Counting Kit-8, respectively. Moreover, NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2) and intracellular HO were detected under the stimulation of different levels of PDGF-BB by Western blot and dihydroethidium staining.

Results: Both the control group and 50 ng/ml of the PDGF-BB group showed significantly higher levels of phosphorylation ATM compared to other groups ( < 0.05). With the ATM inhibitor, 50 ng/ml of the PDGF-BB group showed further increased proliferative level compared to the 10 ng/ml ( < 0.05). Both the levels of NOX2 and HO showed dose-dependent manners under PDGF-BB stimulation ( < 0.05). ATM could be activated by HO upon a dose-dependent way, except for the 500 μM HO group. Under 200 μM HO stimulation, proliferation level decreased significantly ( < 0.05), while no significant difference was shown with the addition of ATM inhibitor ( > 0.05).

Conclusion: Our study first established ROS-induced ATM activation in PDGF-BB-stimulated proliferation of PASMCs. Inhibition of ATM had promoted effects on the proliferation of PASMCs under the excessive levels of PDGF-BB and HO. Our study might provide a novel promising target for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).