Expression of Janus kinase in co-cultured pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells by hypoxia

Objective To study the effect of hypoxia on the expression of Janus kinases (JAK) mRNA in co cultured cocuttured pulmonowy arterial smooth muscle cells Methods Rat pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMC) were co cultured with rat lung microvascular endothelial cells, and then randomly divided into 5 groups: normal group (N), 2 h hypoxia (H2), 6 h hypoxia (H6), and 12 h hypoxia (H12) The expression levels of JAK1 mRNA, JAK2 mRNA and JAK3 mRNA in the PASMC were detected with semi quantitative RT PCR The products were sequenced with Sanger's double strand DNA sequencing Results The expression levels of JAK1 mRNA, JAK2 mRNA and JAK3 mRNA increased in the H2 PASMC, came to the highest in H6, decreased in H12, but still higher than that of N group They were also expressed in co cultured PASMC under normoxia The sequences of RT PCR products were consistent with those in Genbank Conclusion Hypoxia reinforces the expression of Janus kinases in co cultured PASMC, and their genes possibly play important roles in the signal transduction between pulmonary artery contraction and pulmonary hypertension