TRPC1/TRPC3 channels mediate lysophosphatidylcholine-induced apoptosis in cultured human coronary artery smooth muscles cells

// Yuan Wang 1,2 , Yan Wang 1 and Gui-Rong Li 1,2 1 Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital, Medical School of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China 2 Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China Correspondence to: Yan Wang, email: // Gui-Rong Li, email: // Keywords : lysophosphatidylcholine; cell viability; apoptosis; transient receptor potential channels; Pathology Section Received : March 01, 2016 Accepted : July 09, 2016 Published : July 26, 2016 Abstract The earlier study showed that lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPC) induced apoptosis in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells (SMCs); however, the related molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. The present study investigated how lysoPC induces apoptosis in cultured human coronary artery SMCs using cell viability assay, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and molecular biological approaches. We found that lysoPC reduced cell viability in human coronary artery SMCs by eliciting a remarkable Ca 2+ influx. The effect was antagonized by La 3+ , SKF-96365, or Pyr3 as well as by silencing TRPC1 or TRPC3. Co-immunoprecipitation revealed that TRPC1 and TRPC3 had protein-protein interaction. Silencing TRPC1 or TRPC3 countered the lysoPC-induced increase of Ca 2+ influx and apoptosis, and the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and cleaved caspase-3 and decrease of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and the survival kinase pAkt. These results demonstrate the novel information that TRPC1/TRPC3 channels mediate lysoPC-induced Ca 2+ influx and apoptosis via activating the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and cleaved caspase-3 and inhibiting the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and the survival kinase pAkt in human coronary artery SMCs, which implies that TRPC1/TRC3 channels may be the therapeutic target of lysoPC-induced disorders such as atherosclerosis.