Aim To study the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis by the expressions of smooth muscle 22α(SM22α) and angiotensin receptors in vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMC) of human brain artery after human cytomegalovirus(HCMV) UL83 inhibited by RNA interference(RNAi).MethodsHCMV AD169 strain infected VSMC in vitro,which were used to build beforehand cell model with HCMV UL83 inhibited by RNAi.The expressions of SM22α and angiotensin receptors in VSMC were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR),Western blotting,immunofluorescence and RNAi techniques.ResultsBy comparison with control(RNA),down regulation of expression of UL83 and HCMV pp65 were 18.1% and 10.7% after silencing UL83 by RNAi,respectively.There was significant discrepancy of expression between nontransfection group and control.After interference of HCMV UL83,the expression of SM22α and angiotensin Ⅱ receptor type 2(AT2R) were upregulated,as compared to control(RNA),but expression of angiotensin Ⅱ receptor type 1(AT1R) were downregulated.ConclusionsUtilization of RNAi technique successfully established the cell model of infected VSMC with HCMV after silencing UL83 in vitro.It indicated that transcription of SM22α mRNA and AT2R were inhibited by AT1R which might be excited by HCMV UL83 with HCMV infection.