Induction of serotonin transporter by hypoxia in pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cells. Relationship with the mitogenic action of serotonin. (1/5022)

-The increased delivery of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) to the lung aggravates the development of hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension in rats, possibly through stimulation of the proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PA-SMCs). In cultured rat PA-SMCs, 5-HT (10(-8) to 10(-6) mol/L) induced DNA synthesis and potentiated the mitogenic effect of platelet-derived growth factor-BB (10 ng/mL). This effect was dependent on the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT), since it was prevented by the 5-HTT inhibitors fluoxetine (10(-6) mol/L) and paroxetine (10(-7) mol/L), but it was unaltered by ketanserin (10(-6) mol/L), a 5-HT2A receptor antagonist. In PA-SMCs exposed to hypoxia, the levels of 5-HTT mRNA (measured by competitive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction) increased by 240% within 2 hours, followed by a 3-fold increase in the uptake of [3H]5-HT at 24 hours. Cotransfection of the cells with a construct of human 5-HTT promoter-luciferase gene reporter and of pCMV-beta-galactosidase gene allowed the demonstration that exposure of cells to hypoxia produced a 5.5-fold increase in luciferase activity, with no change in beta-galactosidase activity. The increased expression of 5-HTT in hypoxic cells was associated with a greater mitogenic response to 5-HT (10(-8) to 10(-6) mol/L) in the absence as well as in the presence of platelet-derived growth factor-BB. 5-HTT expression assessed by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization in the lungs was found to predominate in the media of pulmonary artery, in which a marked increase was noted in rats that had been exposed to hypoxia for 15 days. These data show that in vitro and in vivo exposure to hypoxia induces, via a transcriptional mechanism, 5-HTT expression in PA-SMCs, and that this effect contributes to the stimulatory action of 5-HT on PA-SMC proliferation. In vivo expression of 5-HTT by PA-SMC may play a key role in serotonin-mediated pulmonary vascular remodeling.  (+info)

Relaxation of endothelin-1-induced pulmonary arterial constriction by niflumic acid and NPPB: mechanism(s) independent of chloride channel block. (2/5022)

We investigated the effects of the Cl- channel blockers niflumic acid, 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoic acid (NPPB) and 4, 4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulphonic acid (DIDS) on endothelin-1 (ET-1)-induced constriction of rat small pulmonary arteries (diameter 100-400 microm) in vitro, following endothelium removal. ET-1 (30 nM) induced a sustained constriction of rat pulmonary arteries in physiological salt solution. Arteries preconstricted with ET-1 were relaxed by niflumic acid (IC50: 35.8 microM) and NPPB (IC50: 21.1 microM) in a reversible and concentration-dependent manner. However, at concentrations known to block Ca++-activated Cl- channels, DIDS (+info)

Transcriptional down-regulation of the rabbit pulmonary artery endothelin B receptor during phenotypic modulation. (3/5022)

1. We confirmed that endothelium-independent contraction of the rabbit pulmonary artery (RPA) is mediated through both an endothelin A (ET(A)R) and endothelin B (ET(B2)R) receptor. 2. The response of endothelium-denuded RPA rings to endothelin-1 (ET-1, pD2 = 7.84 +/- 0.03) was only partially inhibited by BQ123 (10 microM), an ET(A)R antagonist. 3. Pretreatment with 1 nM sarafotoxin S6c (S6c), an ET(B)R agonist, desensitized the ET(B2)R and significantly attenuated the response to ET-3 (pD2 = 7.40 +/- 0.02 before, <6.50 after S6c). 4. Pretreatment with S6c had little effect on the response to ET-1, but BQ123 (10 microM) caused a parallel shift to the right of the residual ETAR-mediated response to ET-1 (pD2 = 7.84 +/- 0.03 before S6c, 7.93 +/- 0.03 after S6c, 6.81 +/- 0.05 after BQ123). 5. Binding of radiolabelled ET-1 to early passage cultures of RPA vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) displayed two patterns of competitive displacement characteristic of the ET(A)R (BQ123 pIC50 = 8.73 +/- 0.05) or ET(B2)R (S6c pIC50 = 10.15). 6. Competitive displacement experiments using membranes from late passage VSMC confirmed only the presence of the ET(A)R (ET-1 pIC50 = 9.3, BQ123 pIC50 = 8.0, S6c pIC50 < 6.0). 7. The ET(A)R was functionally active and coupled to rises in intracellular calcium which exhibited prolonged homologous desensitization. 8. Using a reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for the rabbit ET(B2)R, we demonstrated the absence of mRNA expression in phenotypically modified VSMC. 9. We conclude that the ET(B2)R expressed by VSMC which mediates contraction of RPA is rapidly down-regulated at the transcriptional level during phenotypic modulation in vitro.  (+info)

Protein kinase C-activated oxidant generation in endothelial cells signals intercellular adhesion molecule-1 gene transcription. (4/5022)

We tested the hypothesis that activation of protein kinase C (PKC) and generation of oxidants are critical sequential signals mediating tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-induced activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and transcription of the intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 gene. Stimulation of human pulmonary artery endothelial (HPAE) cells with TNF-alpha (100 U/ml) induced the activation of PKC and, subsequently, generation of oxidants. Pretreatment with calphostin C, a specific PKC inhibitor, prevented oxidant generation after TNF-alpha stimulation, indicating that PKC activation mediated the production of oxidants in HPAE cells. In contrast, pretreatment of HPAE cells with N-acetylcysteine, an antioxidant and a precursor of glutathione, failed to prevent PKC activation, indicating that PKC activation was not secondary to the oxidant production. These findings suggest that oxidant generation in endothelial cells occurs downstream of PKC activation. However, both PKC activation and oxidant generation were necessary for ICAM-1 mRNA expression because the pretreatment of HPAE cells with either calphostin C or N-acetylcysteine inhibited the TNF-alpha-induced activation of NF-kappaB and prevented the activation of ICAM-1 promoter. Prolonged exposure of HPAE cells to the phorbol ester, phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate, which is known to deplete all except atypical PKC isozymes, failed to prevent TNF-alpha-induced ICAM-1 mRNA expression. We conclude that TNF-alpha-induced oxidant generation secondary to the activation of a phorbol ester-insensitive PKC isozyme signals the activation NF-kappaB and ICAM-1 gene transcription.  (+info)

Anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery: natural history and normal pregnancies. (5/5022)

Two female patients are described with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery arising from the pulmonary artery who sustained an anterolateral myocardial infarction in infancy. Neither patient received surgical treatment although both have lived to middle age with minimal cardiovascular problems and have had uncomplicated pregnancies. Good exercise tolerance and long term survival may be possible even without surgery for patients with this anomaly.  (+info)

Lactate kinetics at rest and during exercise in lambs with aortopulmonary shunts. (6/5022)

In a previous study [G. C. M. Beaufort-Krol, J. Takens, M. C. Molenkamp, G. B. Smid, J. J. Meuzelaar, W. G. Zijlstra, and J. R. G. Kuipers. Am. J. Physiol. 275 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 44): H1503-H1512, 1998], a lower systemic O2 supply was found in lambs with aortopulmonary left-to-right shunts. To determine whether the lower systemic O2 supply results in increased anaerobic metabolism, we used [1-13C]lactate to investigate lactate kinetics in eight 7-wk-old lambs with shunts and eight control lambs, at rest and during moderate exercise [treadmill; 50% of peak O2 consumption (VO2)]. The mean left-to-right shunt fraction in the shunt lambs was 55 +/- 3% of pulmonary blood flow. Arterial lactate concentrations and the rate of appearance (Ra) and disappearance (Rd) of lactate were similar in shunt and control lambs, both at rest (lactate: 1, 201 +/- 76 vs. 1,214 +/- 151 micromol/l; Ra = Rd: 12.97 +/- 1.71 vs. 12.55 +/- 1.25 micromol. min-1. kg-1) and during a similar relative workload. We found a positive correlation between Ra and systemic blood flow, O2 supply, and VO2 in both groups of lambs. In conclusion, shunt lambs have similar lactate kinetics as do control lambs, both at rest and during moderate exercise at a similar fraction of their peak VO2, despite a lower systemic O2 supply.  (+info)

Role of Rho and Rho kinase in the activation of volume-regulated anion channels in bovine endothelial cells. (7/5022)

1. We have studied the modulation of volume-regulated anion channels (VRACs) by the small GTPase Rho and by one of its targets, Rho kinase, in calf pulmonary artery endothelial (CPAE) cells. 2. RT-PCR and immunoblot analysis showed that both RhoA and Rho kinase are expressed in CPAE cells. 3. ICl,swell, the chloride current through VRACs, was activated by challenging CPAE cells with a 25 % hypotonic extracellular solution (HTS) or by intracellular perfusion with a pipette solution containing 100 microM GTPgammaS. 4. Pretreatment of CPAE cells with the Clostridium C2IN-C3 fusion toxin, which inactivates Rho by ADP ribosylation, significantly impaired the activation of ICl,swell in response to the HTS. The current density at +100 mV was 49 +/- 13 pA pF-1 (n = 17) in pretreated cells compared with 172 +/- 17 pA pF-1 (n = 21) in control cells. 5. The volume-independent activation of ICl,swell by intracellular perfusion with GTPgammaS was also impaired in C2IN-C3-pretreated cells (31 +/- 7 pA pF-1, n = 11) compared with non-treated cells (132 +/- 21 pA pF-1, n = 15). 6. Activation of ICl,swell was pertussis toxin (PTX) insensitive. 7. Y-27632, a blocker of Rho kinase, inhibited ICl,swell and delayed its activation. 8. Inhibition of Rho and of Rho kinase by the above-described treatments did not affect the extent of cell swelling in response to HTS. 9. These experiments provide strong evidence that the Rho-Rho kinase pathway is involved in the VRAC activation cascade.  (+info)

Release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum increases mitochondrial [Ca2+] in rat pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells. (8/5022)

1. The Ca2+-sensitive fluorescent indicator rhod-2 was used to measure mitochondrial [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]m) in single smooth muscle cells from the rat pulmonary artery, while simultaneously monitoring cytosolic [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]i) with fura-2. 2. Application of caffeine produced an increase in [Ca2+]i and also increased [Ca2+]m. The increase in [Ca2+]m occurred after the increase in [Ca2+]i, and remained elevated for a considerable time after [Ca2+]i had returned to resting values. 3. The protonophore carbonyl cyanide p-(trifluoromethoxy)phenylhydrazone (FCCP), which causes the mitochondrial membrane potential to collapse, markedly attenuated the increase in [Ca2+]m following caffeine application and also increased the half-time for recovery of [Ca2+]i to resting values. 4. Activation of purinoceptors with ATP also produced increases in both [Ca2+]i and [Ca2+]m in these smooth muscle cells. In some cells, oscillations in [Ca2+]i were observed during ATP application, which produced corresponding oscillations in [Ca2+]m and membrane currents. 5. This study provides direct evidence that Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, either through ryanodine or inositol 1,4, 5-trisphosphate (InsP3) receptors, increases both cytosolic and mitochondrial [Ca2+] in smooth muscle cells. These results have potential implications both for the role of mitochondria in Ca2+ regulation in smooth muscle, and for understanding how cellular metabolism is regulated.  (+info)