The effect of catalase-contained recombinant adenovirus on proliferation and apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells

Objective:To investigate the effect of infection with adenoviral vector containing cDNA for human catalase on proliferation and apoptosis of cultured human vascular smooth muscle cell(VSMC). Method: Human VSMCs were infected with catalase-contained recombinant adenovirus(AdCat) in vitro. Catalase protein was detected by Western blot analysis. The VSMC proliferation was determined by cell count. The VSMC apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry and Hoechst 33258 staining. Result: The expression of catalase in VSMC infected with AdCat was significantly higher than that in uninfected VSMC. The percentage of apoptosis cells in VSMC infected with AdCat was higher than that in control group (P 0.01). Condensed nuclei stained by Hoechst 33258 were frequently observed in AdCat-infected VSMC as compared with control. Cell count indicated that the ability of cell proliferation decreased significantly in VSMC infected with AdCat as compared with the control group (P 0.01). Conclution: These findings indicate that overexpression of Catalase inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis in VSMC.