Chemical and Pharmacologic Phenomena Commons^™

Increased Focal Adhesion Kinase- And Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator Receptor-Associated Cell Signaling In Endothelial Cells Exposed To Asbestos, A Barchowsky, B M. Lannon, L C. Elmore, M D. Treadwell

Dartmouth Scholarship

Exposure of low-passage endothelial cells in culture to nonlethal amounts of asbestos, but not refractory ceramic fiber-1, increases cell motility and gene expression. These changes may be initiated by the fibers mimicking matrix proteins as ligands for receptors on the cell surface. In the present study, 1- to 3-hr exposures of endothelial cells to 5 mg/cm2 of chrysotile asbestos caused marked cell elongation and motility. However, little morphological change was seen when chrysotile was added to cells pretreated with either mannosamine to prevent assembly of glycophosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored receptors or with herbimycin A to inhibit tyrosine kinase activity. Affinity purification of …