Third-passage human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) or fifth-passage human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) were subjected to 25 dynes/cm(2) for 24 h in a parallel-plate flow system. Matched control cells were maintained in static conditions. Total RNA was isolated and pooled from six to eight slides per experiment. Changes in gene expression were analyzed by Northern blots and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Fold changes were normalized to glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) values. In HUVECs, arterial levels of shear stress increased mRNA expression of Cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) 10.8 +/- 2.1-fold, and CYP1B1 23.1 +/- 3.7-fold; whereas connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) expression was unchanged and endothelin-1 (ET-1) mRNA expression was decreased 0.7 +/- 0.05-fold. The authors determined whether these changes were induced by beta-naphthoflavone, a polyaromatic hydrocarbon, and whether they occurred in HAECs. beta-Naphthoflavone up-regulated CYP1A1 18.3 +/- 4.2-fold, and CYP1B1 4.1 +/- 0.3-fold in HUVECs. Shear stress up-regulated CYP1A1 6.3 +/- 0.4-fold and CYP1B1 51.1 +/- 2.1-fold in HAECs. In addition, the authors examined CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 proteins translated from these genes. Experiments identical to those described above were performed and the cells harvested for protein identification by Western blot of CYP1A1 and CYP1B1. Protein levels of CYP1A1 in HUVECs were up-regulated under shear stress, whereas protein levels of CYP1B1 were not.