Attenuation of Protein Kinase C Activity by Estrogen: A possible Role in Heart Disease Prevention
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Authors
Fowler, Brian E.
Issue Date
1998
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Atherosclerosis, or heart disease, is the number one cause of death in western
society. It is for this reason that treatments are being developed that will prevent or treat
heart disease. The disease is caused by a proliferation of smooth muscle cells into the
arteries which eventually causes a blockage of blood flow. This proliferation may, in some
cases, be caused by the over-activation of the enzyme Protein Kinase C.
Estrogen therapy has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease when
administered to post-menopausal women. For this reason, the present study sought to
determine the effects of estrogen on Protein Kinase C. The hypothesis was that estrogen
attenuates the over-activation of Protein Kinase C thus reducing the possibility of human
coronary smooth muscle cell proliferation.
By treating cultured human coronary smooth muscle cells with estrogen and
Phorbol esters (a compound that mimics the over-activation of Protein Kinase C), it was
determined that estrogen decreases over-activation of Protein Kinase C by 33% (±18) in
1 nM concentrations. An estrogen concentration of 500 nM, however, does not decrease
Protein Kinase C activity.
This discovery partially explains why estrogen therapy prevents heart disease.
However, it should be noted that further study is needed to find the ideal estrogen
concentration that effectively decreases the risk for heart disease and has the fewest side-effects.
Description
vii, 27 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo College
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder.