Sodium arsenite inhibits proteoglycan synthesis by vascular endothelial cells in culture

Abstract

Several epidemiological and experimental studies have demonstrated that exposure to arsenic is associated with vascular disease such as atherosclerosis. Since vessel proteoglycans (PGs) are key molecules in the progression of the vascular lesion, we investigated the effect of arsenic on the synthesis of PGs in cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells. The results indicate that sodium arsenite (NaAsO2) significantly decreases the accumulation of both heparan sulfate PGs and chondroitin/dermatan sulfate PGs in the cell layer and the conditioned medium of the cells without nonspecific cell damage and inhibition of whole protein synthesis. While sodium arsenate (Na 2HAsO4) did not influence PG synthesis, arsenic trioxide (As2O3) inhibited PG synthesis as a result of nonspecific cell damage. The present data suggest that arsenite may contribute to the progression of atherosclerosis through inhibition of PG synthesis in vascular endothelial cells.