Objective: To investigate the cellular signal transduction pathway involved in participation of C-reactive protein (CRP) in inflammation process in endothelial cell.
Methods: Human umbilical vascular endothelial cells were cultured and characterized by anti-Factor VIII-related antigen. The cells were divided into CRP group and control group, and they were respectively treated with CRP (20 mg/L) or serum-free medium for 24 hours. RNAs of two groups were extracted and analyzed by human signal transduction pathway gene array.
Results: Expressions of 13 genes were increased, whereas expressions of 25 genes were decreased in CRP group compared with control group. Especially, WNT1 inducible signaling pathway protein 2 (WISP2) was increased by 37.63 folds, which was believed to involve in inflammation process as a growth factor, p53 was increased by 30.50 folds, which was a key factor to modulate apoptosis, whereas, Bcl-x and Bcl-2 were decreased by 9.61% and 49.95% which were characterized as an important factor to prevent apoptosis. Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) was increased by 2.75 folds after treated with CRP, while intercellular adhesion molecular (ICAM) between two groups didn't show statistically significant difference.
Conclusion: CRP may be involved in inflammatory process of endothelial cell, and the mechanism may be to induce apoptosis and activate cellular signal transduction pathway of cell adhesion proteins.