Upregulation of Relaxin after Experimental Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in Rabbits

Yuichiro Kikkawa, Satoshi Matsuo, Ryota Kurogi, Akira Nakamizo, Masahiro Mizoguchi, Tomio Sasaki

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background. Although relaxin causes vasodilatation in systemic arteries, little is known about its role in cerebral arteries. We investigated the expression and role of relaxin in basilar arteries after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in rabbits. Methods. Microarray analysis with rabbit basilar artery RNA was performed. Messenger RNA expression of relaxin-1 and relaxin/insulin-like family peptide receptor 1 (RXFP1) was investigated with quantitative RT-PCR. RXFP1 expression in the basilar artery was investigated with immunohistochemistry. Relaxin concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum were investigated with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Using human brain vascular smooth muscle cells (HBVSMC) preincubated with relaxin, myosin light chain phosphorylation (MLC) was investigated with immunoblotting after endothelin-1 stimulation. Results. After SAH, RXFP1 mRNA and protein were significantly downregulated on day 3, whereas relaxin-1 mRNA was significantly upregulated on day 7. The relaxin concentration in CSF was significantly elevated on days 5 and 7. Pretreatment with relaxin reduced sustained MLC phosphorylation induced by endothelin-1 in HBVSMC.Conclusion. Upregulation of relaxin and downregulation of RXFP1 after SAH may participate in development of cerebral vasospasm. Downregulation of RXFP1 may induce a functional decrease in relaxin activity during vasospasm. Understanding the role of relaxin may provide further insight into the mechanisms of cerebral vasospasm.

Original languageEnglish
Article number836397
JournalBioMed Research International
Volume2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Immunology and Microbiology

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