Differential upregulation of Nox homologues of NADPH oxidase by tumor necrosis factor-α in human aortic smooth muscle and embryonic kidney cells

Abstract

NADPH oxidases are important sources of vascular superoxide, which has been linked to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Previously we demonstrated that the Nox4 subunit of NADPH oxidase is a critical catalytic component for superoxide production in quiescent vascular smooth muscle cells. In this study we sought to determine the role of Nox4 in superoxide production in human aortic smooth muscle cells (AoSMC) and embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells under proinflammatory conditions. Incubation with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α, 10 ng/ml) for 12h increased superoxide production in both cell types, whereas angiotensin II, platelet-derived growth factor or interleukin-1β had little effects. Supe..