Skip to main content
British Journal of Pharmacology logoLink to British Journal of Pharmacology
. 1998 Mar;123(6):1097–1102. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjp.0701722

The possible mechanisms of the antiproliferative effect of fullerenol, polyhydroxylated C60, on vascular smooth muscle cells

Liang-Huei Lu 1, Yuan-Teh Lee 1, Huei-Wen Chen 1, Long Y Chiang 2, Huei-Chen Huang *
PMCID: PMC1565274  PMID: 9559892

Abstract

  1. The possible mechanisms of the antiproliferative effect of polyhydroxylated fullerene (fullerenol), a novel free radical trapper, were studied in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (A7r5 cells) and compared with the effect of ascorbic acid.

  2. Fullerenol-1 and ascorbic acid inhibited the proliferative responses in a number of cells, including rat aortic smooth muscle cells (A7r5 cells), human coronary artery smooth muscle cells, and human CEM lymphocytes (CEM cells) in a concentration dependent manner.

  3. At the concentration range of 10−6 to 10−2M, fullerenol-1 and ascorbic acid concentration-dependently inhibited the proliferative responses stimulated by serum in A7r5 cells. Fullerenol-1 was more potent than ascorbic acid.

  4. The production of O2 induced by alloxan, a diabetogenic compound, was reduced by fullerenol-1 (10−4M) in the presence of A7r5 cells.

  5. The cytosolic protein kinase C activity of A7r5 cells stimulated by phorbol ester was reduced by 10−3M fullerenol-1, but not ascorbic acid (10−4–10−2M) and fullerenol-1 at lower concentrations (10−6–10−4M).

  6. In contrast, the membraneous protein tyrosine kinase activity of A7r5 cells stimulated by foetal calf serum was significantly reduced by fullerenol-1 (10−6–10−3M) and ascorbic acid (10−4–10−2M). Again, the inhibitory activity of fullerenol-1 was greater than that of ascorbic acid.

  7. Our results demonstrate that fullerenol-1 and ascorbic acid exhibit inhibitory effects on transduction signals in addition to their antioxidative property. It is suggested that the antiproliferative effect of fullerenol-1 on vascular smooth muscle cells may partly be mediated through the inhibition of protein tyrosine kinase.

Keywords: Antiproliferative effect, fullerenol, ascorbic acid, antioxidant, protein tyrosine kinase, protein kinase C, smooth muscle cells (vascular)

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (349.0 KB).


Articles from British Journal of Pharmacology are provided here courtesy of The British Pharmacological Society

RESOURCES