Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Iafrati, Mark D
• Karas, Richard H
• Aronovitz, Mark
• Kim, Sung
• Sullivan, Theodore R
• Lubahn, Dennis B
• O'Donnell, Thomas F
• Korach, Kenneth S
• Mendelsohn, Michael E

Titel

Estrogen inhibits the vascular injury response in estrogen receptor α-deficient mice

Ist Teil von

• Nature medicine, 1997-05, Vol.3 (5), p.545-548

Ort / Verlag

United States

Erscheinungsjahr

1997

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The atheroprotective effects of estrogen in women are well recognized, but the underlying mechanisms responsible are not well understood. Blood vessel cells express the classic estrogen receptor, ER alpha (ref. 2-6), and are directly affected by estrogen, which inhibits the development of atherosclerotic and injury-induced vascular lesions. We have generated mice in which the ER alpha gene is disrupted and have used a mouse model of carotid arterial injury to compare the effects of estrogen on wild-type and estrogen receptor-deficient mice. Increases in vascular medial area and smooth muscle cell proliferation were quantified following vascular injury in ovariectomized mice treated with vehicle or with physiologic levels of 17 beta-estradiol. Surprisingly, in both wild-type and estrogen receptor-deficient mice, 17 beta-estradiol markedly inhibited to the same degree all measures of vascular injury. These data demonstrate that estrogen inhibits vascular by a novel mechanism that is independent of the classic estrogen receptor, ER alpha.