Integral role of RhoA activation in monocyte adhesion-triggered tissue factor expression in endothelial cells.

OBJECTIVE The role of Rho activation in the regulation of tissue factor (TF) is not clear. This study was undertaken to investigate this in endothelial cells induced by monocyte adhesion. METHODS AND RESULTS Isolated human peripheral blood monocytes were added to cultured human coronary endothelial cells. Monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells increased the levels of TF antigen in the endothelial cells. The results of transient transfection of the human TF promoter/luciferase gene into endothelial cells indicated that the increase in endothelial expression of the TF gene caused by monocyte adhesion occurred at the transcriptional level. The upregulation of TF was inhibited by statins, and the suppressive effect of statins was reversed by geranylgeranylpyrophosphate. Monocyte adhesion rapidly upregulated the membrane translocation and GTP/GDP exchange of RhoA, but not of Cdc42 or Rac, in endothelial cells. Rho inhibition by C3 exoenzyme or adenovirus-mediated expression of N19RhoA prevented the endothelial upregulation of TF caused by monocyte adhesion, and this was mimicked by Rho-kinase inhibitors. Moreover, monocyte adhesion increased the phosphorylation of nuclear factor-kappaB p65 in endothelial cells, and this was prevented by statins and Rho inhibition. CONCLUSIONS Our study shows that RhoA activation plays an integral role in TF expression in endothelial cells.