Table 3.
Pulmonary hypertension: connexins in vascular cells.
| Species | Model | Result | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human | PAECs from PH patients and control donor lungs | PH: Cx37 and Cx40 mRNA ↓ | [67] |
| Rat | Chronic hypoxia for 3 w MCT (60 mg/kg), 4 w, isolation of intra-pulmonary arteries |
Chronic hypoxia, MCT: no alteration of Cx37, Cx40 mRNA and protein Chronic hypoxia: Cx43: ↑ mRNA and protein MCT: Cx43 unchanged |
[68] |
| Rat | MCT (60 mg/kg) or vehicle, isolation of PASMC after 28d, treatment of cells with sildenafil or sildenafil + LDN-193189 | PH: sildenafil ↑ Cx40 mRNA and protein in PASMC, effect reversed by LDN-193189 | [69] |
| Human | Patients with IPAH or PH due to hypoxemic chronic lung disease | iPH: Cx43 ↓ CH-PH: Cx43 ↑ |
[70] |
| Mouse | Cx43+/+ and Cx43+/− mice undergoing hypoxia-induced PH | PH: Cx43+/− ↓ pulmonary arterial muscularization, inflammatory infiltration |
[70] |
| Rat | PASMC transduced with miR-1 | Cx43 expression ↓ | [71] |
| Rat | Sugen5416 (20 mg/kg) followed by 2 w hypoxia and 3 w normoxia; GS-444217 (10 µM) during normoxia | Sugen 5416/hypoxia: Cx43 protein ↑ in lung tissue, effect reversed by GS-444217 | [72] |
IPAH: idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension; MCT: monocrotaline; PAEC: pulmonary arterial endothelial cells; PASMC: pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells; PH: pulmonary hypertension; ↑: increased; ↓: decreased.