Agonist-induced redistribution of calponin in contractile vascular smooth muscle cells

1994 ◽  
Vol 267 (5) ◽  
pp. C1262-C1270 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Parker ◽  
K. Takahashi ◽  
T. Tao ◽  
K. G. Morgan

Calponin is a thin filament-associated protein that has been implicated in playing an auxiliary regulatory role in smooth muscle contraction. We have used immunofluorescence and digital imaging microscopy to determine the cellular distribution of calponin in single cells freshly isolated from the ferret portal vein. In resting cells calponin is distributed throughout the cytosol, associated with filamentous structures, and is excluded from the nuclear area of the cell. The ratio of surface cortex-associated calponin to cytosol-associated calponin (R) was found to be 0.639 +/- 0.021. Upon depolarization of the cell with physiological saline solution containing 96 mM K+, the distribution of calponin did not change from that of a resting cell (R = 0.678 +/- 0.025, P = 0.369). Upon stimulation with an agonist (10 microM phenylephrine) that is known to activate protein kinase C (PKC) in these cells, the cellular distribution of calponin changed from primarily cytosolic to primarily surface cortex associated (R = 1.24 +/- 0.085, P < 0.001). This agonist-induced redistribution of calponin was partially inhibited by the PKC inhibitor calphostin, overlapped in time with PKC translocation, and preceded contraction of these cells. These results suggest that the physiological function of calponin may be to mediate agonist-activated contraction via a PKC-dependent pathway.

2001 ◽  
Vol 280 (4) ◽  
pp. H1751-H1761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Wu ◽  
Michael J. Davis

Stretch-activated ion currents were recorded from vascular smooth muscle (VSM) after enzymatic isolation of single cells from porcine coronary arterioles. Patch pipettes were used to record whole cell current and control cell length. Under voltage clamp in physiological saline solution, an inward cation current ( I CAT) was activated by 105–135% longitudinal stretch. I CATcoincided with an increase in intracellular Ca2+concentration. Under current clamp, membrane depolarization was induced by stretch. The magnitude of I CAT varied from −0.8 to −6.9 pA/pF at a holding potential of −60 mV. I CAT was graded with stretch, inactivated on release, and could be repeatedly induced. A potassium current ( I K) activated in unstretched cells by depolarization was also enhanced by stretch. In Ca2+-free bath solution, stretch-induced enhancement of I Kwas blocked, but I CAT was still present. Hexamethyleneamiloride (50 μM), a reputed inhibitor of mechanosensitive channels, blocked I CAT and the stretch-induced increase in I K but not basal I K. Grammostolla spatulata venom (1:100,000) blocked basal I K, blocked stretch-induced increases in I K, and blocked I CAT. Iberiotoxin, a specific Ca2+-activated K+ channel blocker, did not alter I CAT but blocked the stretch-induced increase in I K and increased the magnitude of stretch-induced depolarization. We concluded that longitudinal stretch directly activates a cation current and secondarily activates a Ca2+-activated K+ current in isolated coronary myocytes. Although these two currents would partially counteract each other, the predominance of I CAT at physiological potentials is likely to explain the depolarization and contraction observed in intact coronary VSM during pressure elevation.


1989 ◽  
Vol 256 (3) ◽  
pp. H630-H640 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Davis ◽  
R. W. Gore

Longitudinal response gradients in the microcirculation may in part be explained in terms of the length-tension relationship of vascular smooth muscle at different points along the vascular tree. To test this hypothesis, four branching orders of arterial vessels (20-80 microns ID) were dissected from the hamster cheek pouch and cannulated with concentric micropipettes. Intraluminal pressure was monitored with a servo-null micropipette, and arteriolar dimensions were measured using a videomicrometer. All arterioles developed spontaneous tone in physiological saline solution. Pressure-diameter curves were recorded for maximally activated vessels and for passive vessels. Maximal active wall tension varied nearly threefold, but maximal active medial wall stress (approximately 4 x 10(6) dyn/cm2) varied only approximately 20% between the different vessel orders. These data support the concept that smooth muscle cells from vessels of different sizes are mechanically similar but do not completely explain the longitudinal response gradients reported in the cheek pouch microcirculation. An analysis of the effect of arteriolar wall buckling suggests that the luminal folds that develop at short vessel radii may broaden the peak of the active stress-length curve and extend the pressure range over which arterioles are most sensitive to physical and chemical stimuli.


1999 ◽  
Vol 277 (2) ◽  
pp. G445-G454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adenike I. Ibitayo ◽  
Jeanette Sladick ◽  
Sony Tuteja ◽  
Otto Louis-Jacques ◽  
Hirotaka Yamada ◽  
...  

Sustained smooth muscle contraction is mediated by protein kinase C (PKC) through a signal transduction cascade leading to contraction. Heat-shock protein 27 (HSP27) appears to be the link between these two major events, i.e., signal transduction and sustained smooth muscle contraction. We have investigated the involvement of HSP27 in signal transduction and HSP27 association with contractile proteins (e.g., actin, myosin, tropomyosin, and caldesmon) resulting in sustained smooth muscle contraction. We have carried out confocal microscopy to investigate the cellular reorganization and colocalization of proteins and immunoprecipitation of HSP27 with actin, myosin, tropomyosin, and caldesmon as detected by sequential immunoblotting. Our results indicate that 1) translocation of Raf-1 to the membrane when stimulated with ceramide is inhibited by vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), a relaxant neuropeptide; 2) PKC-α and mitogen-activated protein kinase translocate and colocalize on the membrane in response to ceramide, and PKC-α translocation is inhibited by VIP; 3) HSP27 colocalizes with actin when contraction occurs; and 4) HSP27 immunoprecipitates with actin and with the contractile proteins myosin, tropomyosin, and caldesmon. We propose a model in which HSP27 is involved in sustained smooth muscle contraction and modulates the interaction of actin, myosin, tropomyosin, and caldesmon.


1999 ◽  
Vol 276 (2) ◽  
pp. H651-H657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Pérez-Vizcaíno ◽  
Angel Cogolludo ◽  
Juan Tamargo

Na+-K+-ATPase plays a major role in regulating membrane potential and vascular tone. We analyzed the modulation by norepinephrine (NE), endothelin-1 (ET-1), and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) of Na+-K+-ATPase-induced cytoplasmic free Ca2+concentration ([Ca2+]i) reduction and relaxation in isolated endothelium-denuded piglet mesenteric arteries. KCl (0.2–8.8 mM)-induced [Ca2+]ireduction and relaxation in arteries incubated in K+-free solution were used as functional indicators of Na+-K+-ATPase activity. KCl-induced relaxations after exposure to K+-free solution were associated with a reduction in [Ca2+]i, as measured by fura 2 fluorescence. However, KCl reduced [Ca2+]ibelow resting values, whereas force was reduced to near resting values. NE, ET-1, and PMA inhibited the relaxant effects of KCl, and this effect was attenuated by the protein kinase C inhibitor staurosporine but not by the phospholipase A2inhibitor quinacrine. However, ET-1 and PMA potentiated the [Ca2+]i-reducing effect of KCl. In conclusion, ET-1, PMA, and NE are functional inhibitors of Na+-K+-ATPase activity in endothelium-denuded piglet mesenteric arteries, even when the direct effect on the enzyme activity may be stimulatory rather than inhibitory. This can be explained because ET-1, PMA, and NE induce Ca2+ sensitization for smooth muscle contraction, and therefore relaxations do not parallel the reductions in [Ca2+]iafter the activation of Na+-K+-ATPase.


1990 ◽  
Vol 259 (1) ◽  
pp. H23-H28 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Bevan ◽  
E. H. Joyce

Infusion of saline into the lumen of a resistance artery from the rabbit ear at rates between 0.5 and 20 microliters/min causes a rate-dependent maintained contraction. This contraction is independent of the direction of saline flow and of the endothelium. The contraction is prevented by pretreatment with the vasodilator papaverine (0.1 mM), which also reversed the contraction during flow. Exclusion of calcium from the physiological saline solution plus ethylene glycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (1 mM) prevents the contraction, as does pre-exposure to cobalt (1 mM) and manganese (1 mM). Both these ions depress saline flow contraction once it is established. Saline flow-dependent contraction changes in a complex manner with temperature. It is greatest in resistance arteries from the pial, ear (skin), and femoral (muscle) segments, moderate to poor in coronary, mesenteric, and renal segments, and absent in the pulmonary segments. A small ear vein adjacent to the ear resistance artery also contracts to saline infusion. Although an explanation based on the washout of a vasodilator metabolite cannot be excluded, we favor the hypothesis that saline flow-induced shear stress of the inner surface of the vessel wall mechanically activates the vascular smooth muscle cells causing an extracellular Ca2(+)-dependent contraction. This response takes place through indomethacin-insensitive calcium-dependent mechanisms in vascular smooth muscle that differ from those associated with commonly studied surface receptors and with stretch.


2003 ◽  
Vol 285 (6) ◽  
pp. C1454-C1463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Dallas ◽  
Raouf A. Khalil

Certain angina and coronary artery disease forms do not respond to Ca2+ channel blockers, and a role for vasoactive eicosanoids such as PGF2α in Ca2+ antagonist-insensitive coronary vasospasm is suggested; however, the signaling mechanisms are unclear. We investigated whether PGF2α-induced coronary smooth muscle contraction is Ca2+ antagonist insensitive and involves activation of a PKC-dependent pathway. We measured contraction in single porcine coronary artery smooth muscle cells and intracellular free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in fura 2-loaded cells and examined cytosolic and particulate fractions for PKC activity and reactivity with isoform-specific PKC antibodies. In Hanks' solution (1 mM Ca2+), PGF2α (10-5 M) caused transient [Ca2+]i increase followed by maintained [Ca2+]i increase and 34% cell contraction. Ca2+ channel blockers verapamil and diltiazem (10-6 M) abolished maintained PGF2α-induced [Ca2+]i increase but only partially inhibited PGF2α-induced cell contraction to 17%. Verapamil-insensitive PGF2α contraction was inhibited by PKC inhibitors GF-109203X, calphostin C, and ϵ-PKC V1-2. PGF2α caused Ca2+-dependent α-PKC and Ca2+-independent ϵ-PKC translocation from cytosolic to particulate fractions that was inhibited by calphostin C. Verapamil abolished PGF2α-induced α-but not ϵ-PKC translocation. PMA (10-6 M), a direct activator of PKC, caused 21% contraction with no significant [Ca2+]i increase and ϵ-PKC translocation that were inhibited by calphostin C but not verapamil. Membrane depolarization by 51 mM KCl, which stimulates Ca2+ influx, caused 36% cell contraction and [Ca2+]i increase that were inhibited by verapamil but not GF-109203X or calphostin C and did not cause α- or ϵ-PKC translocation. Thus a significant component of PGF2α-induced contraction of coronary smooth muscle is Ca2+ antagonist insensitive, involves Ca2+-independent ϵ-PKC activation and translocation, and may represent a signaling mechanism of Ca2+ antagonist-resistant coronary vasospasm.


2001 ◽  
Vol 280 (3) ◽  
pp. G381-G388 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. S. Murthy ◽  
H. Zhou ◽  
J. R. Grider ◽  
G. M. Makhlouf

The identity of G proteins mediating CCK-stimulated phospholipase D (PLD) activity was determined in intestinal smooth muscle cells. CCK-8 activated Gq/11, G13, and G12, and the monomeric G proteins Ras-homology protein (RhoA) and ADP ribosylation factor (ARF). Activation of RhoA, but not ARF, was mediated by G13 and inhibited by Gα13 antibody. CCK-stimulated PLD activity was partly mediated by RhoA and could be inhibited to the same extent (47 ± 2% to 53 ± 6%) by 1) a dominant negative RhoA mutant, 2) RhoA antibody or Gα13 antibody, and 3) Clostridium botulinum C3 exoenzyme. PLD activity was also inhibited by ARF antibody, and the effect was additive to that of RhoA antibody or C3 exoenzyme. PLD activity was inhibited by calphostin C, bisindolylmaleimide I, and a selective protein kinase C (PKC)-α inhibitor; the inhibition was additive to that of ARF and RhoA antibodies and C3 exoenzyme. In contrast, activated G12 was not coupled to RhoA or ARF, and Gα12 antibody augmented PLD activity. Thus agonist-stimulated PLD activity is mediated additively by G13-dependent RhoA and by ARF and PKC-α and is modulated by an inhibitory G12-dependent pathway.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document