Physiological cyclic stretch directs L-arginine transport and metabolism to collagen synthesis in vascular smooth muscle.

Application of cyclic stretch (10% at 1 hertz) to vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) increased L-arginine uptake and this was associated with a specific increase in cationic amino acid transporter-2 (CAT-2) mRNA. In addition, cyclic stretch stimulated L-arginine metabolism by inducing arginase I mRNA and arginase activity. In contrast, cyclic stretch inhibited the catabolism of L-arginine to nitric oxide (NO) by blocking inducible NO synthase expression. Exposure of SMC to cyclic stretch markedly increased the capacity of SMC to generate L-proline from L-arginine while inhibiting the formation of polyamines. The stretch-mediated increase in L-proline production was reversed by methyl-L-arginine, a competitive inhibitor of L-arginine transport, by hydroxy-L-arginine, an arginase inhibitor, or by the ornithine aminotransferase inhibitor L-canaline. Finally, cyclic stretch stimulated collagen synthesis and the accumulation of type I collagen, which was inhibited by L-canaline. These results demonstrate that cyclic stretch coordinately stimulates L-proline synthesis by regulating the genes that modulate the transport and metabolism of L-arginine. In addition, they show that stretch-stimulated collagen production is dependent on L-proline formation. The ability of hemodynamic forces to up-regulate L-arginine transport and direct its metabolism to L-proline may play an important role in stabilizing vascular lesions by promoting SMC collagen synthesis.