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Angiostatin‐induced inhibition of endothelial cell proliferation/apoptosis is associated with the down‐regulation of cell cycle regulatory protein cdk5

Endothelial cells (ECs) are quiescent in normal blood vessels, but undergo rapid bursts of proliferation after vascular injury, hypoxia or induced by powerful angiogenic cytokines like fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Deregulated proliferation of ECs facilitates angiogenic processes and promotes tumor growth. In dividing cells, cell cycle‐associated protein kinases, which are referred as cyclin‐dependent kinases (cdks), regulate proliferation, differentiation, senescence, and apoptosis. Cyclin‐dependent kinase‐5 (cdk5) is expressed in neuronal cells and plays an important role in neurite outgrowth, of neuronal migration and neurogenesis, its functions in non‐neuronal cells are unclear. Here, we show for the first time that the cdk5 is expressed at high levels in proliferating bovine aortic endothelial (BAE) cells, by contrast insignificant low levels of cdk5 expression in quiescent BAE cells. In addition, bFGF up‐regulates cdk5 expression in a dose‐dependent fashion. Interestingly, temporal expression data suggests that cdk5 expression is very low between 24–48 h, but high level of cdk5 expression was detected during 60–72 h. This later time corresponds to the time of completion of one cell cycle (doubling of cell population) of BAE cell culture. Angiostatin (AS), a powerful inhibitor of angiogenesis inhibits ECs proliferation in dose‐dependent manner with concomitant down‐regulation of cdk5 expression. The role of cdk5 in ECs, proliferation and apoptosis was confirmed by selective inhibition of cdk5 expression by the purine derivative roscovitine, which inhibits bFGF‐stimulated BAE cells proliferation and induces apoptosis in dose‐specific manner. By contrast, the roscovitine analog olomoucine, which is a specific inhibitor of cdk4, but not of cdk5 failed to affect ECs proliferation and apoptosis. These data suggest for the first time that neuron specific protein cdk5 may have significant role in the regulation of ECs proliferation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis and extends beyond its role in neurogenesis. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.