Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) is expressed on the endothelium and vascular smooth muscle in
atherosclerosis, where it is thought to recruit
alpha4 integrin-positive leukocytes, which play a role in
disease progression. In this study, we show an increase of
VCAM-1 expression on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) results in increased adhesion of
alpha4 integrin-positive lymphocytes. Additionally, we examine the regulation of
VCAM-1 expression by
cytokines in cultured VSMC. Previously in endothelial cells, we have demonstrated that
TNF-alpha increases transcription of the
VCAM-1 gene, whereas
IL-4 acts to increase
VCAM-1 mRNA stability. The combination of a
cytokine that increases transcription with a
cytokine that stabilizes
mRNA results in a synergistic increase in
VCAM-1 expression. In this study, we show that the combination of
TNF-alpha with
IL-4 also resulted in a synergistic increase in
VCAM-1 expression on VSMC; however, the mechanism of
cytokine activation differed. In contrast to endothelial cells,
IL-4 stimulated
VCAM-1 gene transcription in the VSMC, but there was little effect of
TNF-alpha alone. Additionally, the synergy between
TNF-alpha and
IL-4 appears to result, at least in part, from a cooperative transcriptional mechanism.