Inflammation is a key process in cardiovascular diseases. The extracellular matrix (ECM) of the vasculature is a major tar
get of inflammatory cytokines, and TNF
![greek small letter alpha greek small letter alpha](http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/204e.gif)
regulates ECM metabolism by affecting colla
gen production. In this study, we have examined the pathways mediating TNF
![greek small letter alpha greek small letter alpha](http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/204e.gif)
-induced suppression of prolyl-4 hydroxylase alpha1 (P4H
![greek small letter alpha greek small letter alpha](http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/204e.gif)
1), the rate-limiting isoform of P4H responsible for procolla
gen hydroxylation, maturation, and organization. Using human aortic smooth muscle cells, we found that TNF
![greek small letter alpha greek small letter alpha](http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/204e.gif)
activated the MKK4-JNK1 pathway, which induced histone (H) 4 lysine 12 acetylation within the TNF
![greek small letter alpha greek small letter alpha](http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/204e.gif)
response element in the P4H
![greek small letter alpha greek small letter alpha](http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/204e.gif)
1 promoter. The acetylated-H4 then recruited a transcription factor, NonO, which, in turn, recruited HDACs and induced H3 lysine 9 deacetylation, thereby inhibiting transcription of the P4H
![greek small letter alpha greek small letter alpha](http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/204e.gif)
1 promoter. Furthermore, we found that TNF
![greek small letter alpha greek small letter alpha](http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/204e.gif)
oxidized DJ-1, which may be essential for the NonO–P4H
![greek small letter alpha greek small letter alpha](http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/204e.gif)
1 interaction because treatment with
gene specific siRNA to knockout DJ-1 eliminated the TNF
![greek small letter alpha greek small letter alpha](http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/204e.gif)
-induced NonO–P4H
![greek small letter alpha greek small letter alpha](http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/204e.gif)
1 interaction and its suppression. Our findings may be relevant to aortic aneurysm and dissection and the stability of the fibrous cap of atherosclerotic plaque in which colla
gen metabolism is important in arterial remodeling. Defining this cytokine-mediated regulatory pathway may provide novel molecular tar
gets for therapeutic intervention in preventing plaque rupture and acute coronary occlusion.