Project description:NOX1 is a catalytic subunit of nonphagocytic NADPH oxidase, mainly localized to smooth muscle cells in the vasculature. We investigated the pathology underlying the pulmonary arterial hypertension-like phenotype demonstrated in mice deficient in the Nox1 gene (Nox1-KO). Spontaneous enlargement and hypertrophy of the right ventricle, accompanied by hypertrophy of pulmonary vessels, were demonstrated in Nox1-KO at 9-18 weeks of age. Since an increased number of α-smooth muscle actin-positive vessels was observed in Nox1-KO, pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) were isolated and characterized by flow cytometry and TUNEL staining. In Nox1-/Y PASMC, the number of apoptotic cells was significantly reduced without any change in the expression of endothelin-1, and hypoxia-inducible factors HIF-1a and HIF-2a, factors implicated in the pathogenesis of PAH. microRNA expression profiling of mouse pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells in wild-type and NOX1-KO was analyzed.
Project description:NOX1 is a catalytic subunit of nonphagocytic NADPH oxidase, mainly localized to smooth muscle cells in the vasculature. We investigated the pathology underlying the pulmonary arterial hypertension-like phenotype demonstrated in mice deficient in the Nox1 gene (Nox1-KO). Spontaneous enlargement and hypertrophy of the right ventricle, accompanied by hypertrophy of pulmonary vessels, were demonstrated in Nox1-KO at 9-18 weeks of age. Since an increased number of α-smooth muscle actin-positive vessels was observed in Nox1-KO, pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) were isolated and characterized by flow cytometry and TUNEL staining. In Nox1-/Y PASMC, the number of apoptotic cells was significantly reduced without any change in the expression of endothelin-1, and hypoxia-inducible factors HIF-1a and HIF-2a, factors implicated in the pathogenesis of PAH. Transcriptional profiling of mouse pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells in wild-type and NOX1-KO was analyzed.
Project description:NOX1 is a catalytic subunit of nonphagocytic NADPH oxidase, mainly localized to smooth muscle cells in the vasculature. We investigated the pathology underlying the pulmonary arterial hypertension-like phenotype demonstrated in mice deficient in the Nox1 gene (Nox1-KO). Spontaneous enlargement and hypertrophy of the right ventricle, accompanied by hypertrophy of pulmonary vessels, were demonstrated in Nox1-KO at 9-18 weeks of age. Since an increased number of ?-smooth muscle actin-positive vessels was observed in Nox1-KO, pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) were isolated and characterized by flow cytometry and TUNEL staining. In Nox1-/Y PASMC, the number of apoptotic cells was significantly reduced without any change in the expression of endothelin-1, and hypoxia-inducible factors HIF-1a and HIF-2a, factors implicated in the pathogenesis of PAH. microRNA expression profiling of mouse pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells in wild-type and NOX1-KO was analyzed. Pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells were harvested form 3 mice.
Project description:NOX1 is a catalytic subunit of nonphagocytic NADPH oxidase, mainly localized to smooth muscle cells in the vasculature. We investigated the pathology underlying the pulmonary arterial hypertension-like phenotype demonstrated in mice deficient in the Nox1 gene (Nox1-KO). Spontaneous enlargement and hypertrophy of the right ventricle, accompanied by hypertrophy of pulmonary vessels, were demonstrated in Nox1-KO at 9-18 weeks of age. Since an increased number of α-smooth muscle actin-positive vessels was observed in Nox1-KO, pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) were isolated and characterized by flow cytometry and TUNEL staining. In Nox1-/Y PASMC, the number of apoptotic cells was significantly reduced without any change in the expression of endothelin-1, and hypoxia-inducible factors HIF-1a and HIF-2a, factors implicated in the pathogenesis of PAH. Transcriptional profiling of mouse pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells in wild-type and NOX1-KO was analyzed. Pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells were harvested from 3 mice.
Project description:Iron deficiency augments hypoxic pulmonary arterial pressure in healthy individuals and exacerbates pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients, even without anemia. Conversely, iron supplementation has been shown to be beneficial in both settings. The mechanisms underlying the effects of iron availability are not known, due to lack of understanding of how cells of the pulmonary vasculature respond to changes in iron levels. The iron export protein ferroportin (FPN) and its antagonist peptide hepcidin control systemic iron levels by regulating release from the gut and spleen, the sites of absorption and recycling, respectively. We found FPN to be present in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) and regulated by hepcidin cell autonomously. To interrogate the importance of this regulation, we generated mice with smooth muscle-specific knock in of the hepcidin-resistant isoform fpn C326Y. While retaining normal systemic iron levels, this model developed PAH and right heart failure as a consequence of intracellular iron deficiency and increased expression of the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 (ET-1) within PASMCs. PAH was prevented and reversed by i.v. iron and by the ET receptor antagonist BQ-123. The regulation of ET-1 by iron was also demonstrated in healthy humans exposed to hypoxia and in PASMCs from PAH patients with mutations in bone morphogenetic protein receptor type II. Such mutations were further associated with dysregulation of the HAMP/FPN axis in PASMCs. This study presents evidence that intracellular iron deficiency specifically within PASMCs alters pulmonary vascular function. It offers a mechanistic underpinning for the known effects of iron availability in humans.
Project description:Emerging evidence suggests that caveolin-1 (Cav1) is associated with pulmonary arterial hypertension. MURC (also called Cavin-4) is a member of the cavin family, which regulates caveolar formation and functions together with caveolins. Here, we show that hypoxia increased Murc mRNA expression in the mouse lung, and that Murc-null mice exhibited attenuation of hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension (PH) accompanied by reduced ROCK activity in the lung. Conditional knockout mice lacking Murc in smooth muscle also resist hypoxia-induced PH. MURC regulates the proliferation and migration of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) through Rho/ROCK signalling. Cav1 suppresses RhoA activity in PASMCs, which is reversed by MURC. MURC binds to Cav1 and inhibits the association of Cav1 with the active form of Gα13, resulting in the facilitated association of the active form of Gα13 with p115RhoGEF. These results reveal that MURC has a function in the development of PH through modulating Rho/ROCK signalling.
Project description:Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by remodeling and narrowing of the pulmonary arteries, which lead to elevation of right ventricular pressure, heart failure, and death. Proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) is thought to be central to the pathogenesis of PAH, although the underlying mechanisms are still being explored. The protein p53 is involved in cell cycle coordination, DNA repair, apoptosis, and cellular senescence, but its role in pulmonary hypertension (PH) is not fully known. We developed a mouse model of hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension (PH) and found significant reduction of p53 expression in the lungs. Our in vitro experiments with metabolomic analyses and the Seahorse XF extracellular flux analyzer indicated that suppression of p53 expression in PASMCs led to upregulation of glycolysis and downregulation of mitochondrial respiration, suggesting a proliferative phenotype resembling that of cancer cells. It was previously shown that systemic genetic depletion of p53 in a murine PH model led to more severe lung manifestations. Lack of information about the role of cell-specific p53 signaling promoted us to investigate it in our mouse PH model with the inducible Cre-loxP system. We generated a mouse model with SMC-specific gain or loss of p53 function by crossing Myh11-Cre/ERT2 mice with floxed Mdm4 mice or floxed Trp53 mice. After these animals were exposed to hypoxia for 4 weeks, we conducted hemodynamic and echocardiographic studies. Surprisingly, the severity of PH was similar in both groups of mice and there were no differences between the genotypes. Our findings in these mice indicate that activation or suppression of p53 signaling in SMCs has a minor role in the pathogenesis of PH and suggest that p53 signaling in other cells (endothelial cells, immune cells, or fibroblasts) may be involved in the progression of this condition.
Project description:BackgroundThe binding of endothelin-1 (ET-1) to endothelin type A receptor (ETAR) performs a critical action in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cell (PASMC) proliferation leading to pulmonary vascular structural remodeling. More evidence showed that cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE)-catalyzed endogenous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) was involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of endogenous H2S/CSE pathway on the ET-1/ETAR binding and its underlying mechanisms in the cellular and animal models of PASMC proliferation.Methods and resultsBoth live cell imaging and ligand-receptor assays revealed that H2S donor, NaHS, inhibited the binding of ET-1/ETAR in human PASMCs (HPASMCs) and HEK-293A cells, along with an inhibition of ET-1-activated HPASMC proliferation. While, an upregulated Ki-67 expression by the pulmonary arteries, a marked pulmonary artery structural remodeling, and an increased pulmonary artery pressure were observed in CSE knockout (CSE-KO) mice with a deficient H2S/CSE pathway compared with those in the wild type (WT) mice. Meanwhile, NaHS rescued the enhanced binding of ET-1 with ETAR and cell proliferation in the CSE-knockdowned HPASMCs. Moreover, the ETAR antagonist BQ123 blocked the enhanced proliferation of CSE-knockdowned HPASMCs. Mechanistically, ETAR persulfidation was reduced in the lung tissues of CSE-KO mice compared to that in WT mice, which could be reversed by NaHS treatment. Similarly, NaHS persulfidated ETAR in HPASMCs and HEK-293A cells. Whereas a thiol reductant dithiothreitol (DTT) reversed the H2S-induced ETAR persulfidation and further blocked the H2S-inhibited binding of ET-1/ETAR and HPASMC proliferation. Furthermore, the mutation of ETAR at cysteine (Cys) 69 abolished the persulfidation of ETAR by H2S, and subsequently blocked the H2S-suppressed ET-1/ETAR binding and HPASMC proliferation.ConclusionEndogenous H2S persulfidated ETAR at Cys69 to inhibit the binding of ET-1 to ETAR, subsequently suppressed PASMC proliferation, and antagonized pulmonary vascular structural remodeling.