Abstract
Blood vessels express estrogen receptors, but their role in cardiovascular physiology is not well understood. We show that vascular smooth muscle cells and blood vessels from estrogen receptor β (ERβ) - deficient mice exhibit multiple functional abnormalities. In wild-type mouse blood vessels, estrogen attenuates vasoconstriction by an ERβ-mediated increase in inducible nitric oxide synthase expression. In contrast, estrogen augments vasoconstriction in blood vessels from ERβ-deficient mice. Vascular smooth muscle cells isolated from ERβ-deficient mice show multiple abnormalities of ion channel function. Furthermore, ERβ-deficient mice develop sustained systolic and diastolic hypertension as they age. These data support an essential role for ERβ in the regulation of vascular function and blood pressure.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 505-508 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Science |
Volume | 295 |
Issue number | 5554 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 18 2002 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General