Carnosine stimulates vimentin expression in cultured rat fibroblasts

Two-dimensional electrophoretic gel profiles were compared between rat 3Y1 fibroblasts cultured in the presence and absence of 30 mM L-carnosine (beta-alanyl-L-histidine) for one week without any replenishment of medium. While a number of cellular proteins changed their expression levels by the addition of carnosine, we identified one of the most prominently varied proteins as vimentin. Immunoblot analysis with anti-vimentin antibody demonstrated that the vimentin levels increased about 2-fold after one-week culture in the presence of carnosine. We also confirmed that the increase of vimentin expression was dependent on the concentration of carnosine added to the medium. Moreover, when cultured cells were stained with anti-vimentin antibody and observed by light microscopy, most cells grown in the presence of carnosine were found to have markedly developed vimentin filaments. The increase of vimentin expression was also observed by adding with carnosine related dipeptides, N-acetylcarnosine and anserine.