Here, the mechanism of vasorelaxant Mas receptor (MasR)
expression
elevated by hesperidin in spontaneously hypertensive rats was investigated
in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). HUVECs were cultured
with 1 μM hesperidin for 2 h, following the measurements of
nitric oxide (NO) production and vasomotor-related receptors’
expression. Hesperidin significantly promoted NO production (224.1
± 18.3%, P < 0.01 vs control) in the HUVECs.
Only the MasR expression was upregulated (141.2 ± 12.5%, P < 0.05 vs control), whereas a MasR antagonist did not
alter the hesperidin-induced NO production. When a transient receptor
potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) was knocked down by silencing RNA or
Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) and p38 mitogen-activated
protein kinase (p38 MAPK) were inhibited, the increased MasR expression
by hesperidin was abrogated. The inhibitions of CaMKII and endothelial
NO synthase (eNOS) abolished the hesperidin-induced NO production.
The structure–activity relationship analysis of flavonoids
demonstrated that the B ring of the twisted flavonoid skeleton with
a hydroxy group at the 3′ position was a crucial factor for
TRPV1 stimulation. Taken together, it was demonstrated that hesperidin
may stimulate TRPV1-mediated cascades, leading to the activation of
two signaling axes, CaMKII/p38 MAPK/MasR expression and CaMKII/eNOS/NO
production in HUVECs.
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