Expression of soluble and insoluble fibronectin in rat aorta: effects of angiotensin II and endothelin-1.

This study has investigated the influence of the vasoconstrictor peptides angiotensin II (Ang II) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) on fibronectin expression by vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). In confluent, quiescent cultures of VSMC, Ang II and ET-1 elevated fibronectin mRNA levels in a time- and dose-dependent fashion. ET-1 and Ang II also induced a time-dependent expression of immunoreactive fibronectin in cultures of aortic organoids, and for both peptides the fibronectin immunoreactivity was most prominent within those medial smooth muscle cell layers close to the vessel lumen. Immunoprecipitation of biosynthetically labelled fibronectin elaborated by cultured VSMC revealed a predominant expression of soluble fibronectin in response to Ang II, whereas for ET-1 the newly synthesized fibronectin was predominantly incorporated into the extracellular matrix deposit of the cells. These findings indicate that Ang II and ET-1 may exert disparate effects on smooth muscle cell phenotype and migration.