Smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The present study was designed to determine the effects of 2-month exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) on proteins in the left ventricles of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and to identify the molecular targets associated with the pathogenesis/progression of CS-induced cardiac hypertrophy. SHR and Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) were exposed to CS at low (2 puffs/min for 40 min) or high dose (2 puffs/min for 120 min), 5 days a week for 2 months.

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... Using the two-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis combined with MALDI-TOF/TOF tandem mass spectrometry, we compared differences in the expression levels of proteins in the whole left ventricles induced by long-term smoking. High-dose CS mainly caused cardiac hypertrophy in SHR, but not WKY, but no change in blood pressure. Proteomic analysis identified 30 protein spots with significant alterations, with 14 up-regulated and 16 down-regulated proteins in the left ventricles of CS-exposed SHR, compared with control SHR. Among these proteins, two members of the heat shock proteins (HSP70 and HSP20) showed significant up-regulation in the left ventricles of CS high-dose SHR, and the results were confirmed by western blot analysis. Our findings suggested that HSPs play an important role in regulation of CS-induced cardiac hypertrophy.