Nitric oxide-induced increase in p21Sdi1/Cip1/Waf1 expression during the cell cycle in aortic adventitial fibroblasts

This study was performed to investigate whether the expression of p21(Sdi1/Cip1/Waf1), one of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor proteins, could be regulated by nitric oxide (NO) and might account for the antiproliferative effect of NO. Quiescent adventitial fibroblasts were stimulated to proliferate by serum addition and by NO donors added during different phases of the cell cycle. [H-3]Thymidine incorporation was markedly reduced by S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine (SNAP) added either with serum at quiescence or at later time point in the cell cycle, Northern and Western blot analyses showed that addition of SNAP either at quiescence or 15 hours after serum addition induced a rapid induction of p21 mRNA and protein. Immunoprecipitation studies and electrophoretic mobility shift analysis indicate that the treatment of cells with SNAP induced the phosphorylation of p53 (a tumor suppressor protein) and enhanced the ability of p53 to bind DNA when SNAP was added during the cell cycle. The increased expression of p21 mRNA or p53 activation during late G(1) or S phase was also caused by addition of 8-bromo-cGMP and effectively blocked by a specific inhibitor of the soluble guanylate cyclase. Furthermore, this response to SNAP was blocked by an inhibitor of protein kinase G. These studies implicate NO as a potential regulator of the cell cycle in aortic adventitial fibroblasts through a cGMP-mediated transcriptional mechanism involving the induction of p21.