Non-muscle myosin II plays a role in many fundamental cellular processes including cell adhesion, migration, and cytokinesis. However, its role in vascular function is not well understood. Here, we investigated the function of non-muscle myosin II in the biomechanical properties of mouse proximal aorta. We found that blebbistatin, a specific inhibitor of non-muscle myosin II decreases agonist-induced aortic stress and stiffness in a dose-dependent manner. We also specifically demonstrate, in freshly isolated contractile aortic smooth muscle cells, using deconvolution microscopy that the NM myosin IIA isoform co-localizes with contractile filaments in the core of the cell as well as in the non-muscle cell cortex. However, the NM myosin IIB isoform is only colocalized with contractile filaments, and is excluded from the cell cortex. Furthermore, both the siRNA knockdown of NMIIA and NMIIB isoforms in a differentiated smooth muscle cell line A7r5 and blebbistatin-mediated inhibition of NM myosin II suppresses agonist-activated increases in phosphorylation of FAK Y925 and paxillin Y118. Thus, in the present study, we show, for the first time, that NM myosin II regulates aortic stiffness and that this regulation is mediated at least in part through the tension-dependent phosphorylation of focal adhesion proteins FAK and paxillin.
Signal transduction by G‐proteins, Rho‐kinase and protein phosphatase to smooth muscle and non‐muscle myosin II
