Proto-oncogene expression in rabbit aorta after wall injury. First marker of the cellular process leading to restenosis after angioplasty?

In order to study the earliest phenomenons occurring in the arterial wall after balloon angioplasty, the level of expression of the proto-oncogenes, c-fos and c-myc, was studied in rabbit aorta after balloon denudation by using Northern blot analysis. Both c-fos and c-myc are rapidly and transitorily induced (maximal at 30 min and 2 h after mechanical injury for c-fos and c-myc respectively). By comparison, infusion of norepinephrine increases oncogene expression in normal non-denuded rabbit aorta after 1 h, but the combination of both mechanical and hormonal stimuli do not lead to a more important induction than balloon denudation alone.