Abstract
Purpose: :
To determine whether lovastatin, HMG-CoA-reductase inhibitors, influences the contractile activity of cultured porcine lens epithelial cells(LECs).
Methods: :
Porcine LECs were cultured in collagen gel in Dulbecco,s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) for 24 hours. Cells were pretreated with or without lovastatin (10µM) for 18 hours and subsequently were stimulated with or without TGF-β (5ng/ml) for 24 hours. To evaluate collagen gel contraction, the longest and shortest diameters of the gels were measured after 24-hour stimulation with TGF-β.
Results: :
Control gels cultured with DMEM alone contracted to 51.9 ± 4.2% of their original area after 24 hours. TGF-β significantly increased this contraction(22.3 ± 4.9 % of initial size, p<0.0001, ANOVA). Lovastatin blocked the TGF-β-induced collagen gel contraction (38.6 ± 5.6% of initial size, p<0.0001, ANOVA).
Conclusions: :
Lovastatin inhibits TGF-β-induced contractile activity of cultured porcine LECs.
Keywords: cytoskeleton • cytokines/chemokines • enzymes/enzyme inhibitors