The effect of homocysteine on human aortic smooth muscle cells

Vascular calcification is a common manifestation of atherosclerosis and involves cell-mediated processes similar to the formation of bone (osteogenesis). Elevated plasma levels of homocysteine are an independent risk factor for atherosclerotic vascular disease but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We postulated that hcy can modulate the cells involved in atherosclerosis to promote calcification. Cell experiments were performed to assess the effect of homocysteine on the osteogenic differentiation of aortic smooth muscle cells (AoSMC). Keywords: dose repsonse comparison To study the ability of homocysteine to induce osteogenic differentiation, AoSMC were cultured in T75 flasks (7.5x10E5 /mL) in growth medium with 0, 10 and 100 μmol/L DL-homocysteine. Four biological replicates were prepared for each condition. After 14 days, RNA was extracted from cells and the expression levels of osteogenic genes were compared between the different conditions of homocysteine concentration.