Rationale: induction of heme oxygenase (HO)-1 protects against experimental atherosclerotic diseases, and certain pharmacological HO-1 inducers, like probucol, inhibit the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells and, at the same time, promote the growth of endothelial cells in vivo and in vitro.
Objective: because such cell-specific effects are reminiscent of the action of the transcription factor Yin Yang (YY)1, we tested the hypothesis that there is a functional relationship between HO-1 and YY1.
Methods and results: we report that probucol increases the number of YY1(+) cells in rat carotid artery following balloon injury at a time coinciding with increased HO-1 expression. The drug also induces the expression of YY1 mRNA and protein in rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMCs) in vitro, as do other known HO-1 inducers (tert-butylhydroquinone and hemin) and overexpression of HO-1 using a human HMOX1 cDNA plasmid. Conversely, overexpression of YY1 induces expression of HO-1 in RASMCs. Induction of YY1 expression is dependent on HO-1 enzyme activity and its reaction product CO, because pharmacological inhibition of heme oxygenase activity or CO scavenging block, whereas exposure of RASMCs to a CO-releasing molecule increases, YY1 expression. Furthermore, RNA interference knockdown of YY1 prevents probucol or adeno-HO-1 from inhibiting RASMC proliferation in vitro and neointimal formation in vivo.
Conclusions: our findings show, for the first time, that HO-1 functionally interplays with the multifunctional transcription factor YY1 and that this interplay explains some of the protective activities of HO-1.