Androgen stimulates endothelial cell proliferation via an androgen receptor/VEGF/cyclin A-mediated mechanism

Growing evidences support that androgen displays beneficial effects on cardiovascular functions although the mechanism of androgen actions remains to be elucidated. Modulation of endothelial cell growth and function is a potential mechanism of androgen actions. We demonstrated in the present study that androgens dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and testosterone, but not 17β-estradiol, produced a time- and dose-dependent induction of cell proliferation in primary human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) as evident by increases in viable cell number and DNA biosynthesis. Real-time qRT-PCR analysis showed that DHT induced androgen receptor (AR), cyclin A, cyclin D1, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene expression in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The addition of casodex, a specific AR antagonist, or transfection of a specific AR siRNA blocked DHT-induced cell proliferation and target gene expression, indicating that the DHT effects are mediated via AR. Moreover, coadministration of SU5416 to block VEGF receptors, or transfection of a specific VEGF-A siRNA to knockdown VEGF expression, produced a dose-dependent blockade of DHT induction of cell proliferation and cyclin A gene expression. Interestingly, roscovitine, a selective cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, also blocked the DHT stimulation of cell proliferation with a selective inhibition of DHT-induced VEGF-A expression. These results indicate that androgens acting on AR stimulate cell proliferation through upregulation of VEGF-A, cyclin A, and cyclin D1 in HAECs, which may be beneficial to cardiovascular functions since endothelial cell proliferation could assist the repair of endothelial injury/damage in cardiovascular system.