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Submitted on February 8, 2002
Accepted on February 27, 2002
Stimulation of
Expression of Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 in
Endothelial Cells
From the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mahmad{at}emory.edu.
AbstractWe
have previously shown that cytokine stimulation of the
expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), but not that
of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), is redox sensitive in
endothelial cells. Here, we investigated the role of
isoprenylcysteine carboxyl methyltransferase (ICMTase), which
methylates isoprenylated CAAX (where C indicates cysteine; A, aliphatic
amino acids; and X, almost any other amino acid) proteins, including
Rac1, a component of superoxide-generating NAD(P)H oxidase, in the
expression of VCAM-1. Pretreatment of endothelial cells
with
N-acetyl-S-farnesyl-L-cysteine
(AFC) or
N-acetyl-S-geranylgeranyl-L-cysteine,
specific inhibitors of ICMTase, inhibited the tumor
necrosis factor-
(TNF-
) stimulation of mRNA expression of VCAM-1
but not that of ICAM-1. Endothelial cells expressed
constitutively active ICMTase, as suggested by the presence of
methylated Rac1 and the methylation of AFC by the cells. TNF-
stimulation of the cells significantly increased the methylation of AFC
and Rac1 in endothelial cells. That ICMTase was a
component of the redox-sensitive signaling pathway was also suggested
by the AFC inhibition of the generation of reactive oxygen species by
TNF-
. Interestingly, the dominant-negative isoform of Rac1 was not
selective but inhibited the TNF-
stimulation of the mRNA expression
of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1. Thus, ICMTase is a critical component of the
redox-sensitive VCAM-1--selective signaling pathway, and it appears to
activate a discrete inflammatory signaling pathway, at least in
part, through the methylation of
Rac1.
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