cyclic-gmp and herbimycin

The cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is an important pathway for duodenal mucosal bicarbonate secretion. Duodenal biopsies from CF patients secrete bicarbonate in response to heat-stable enterotoxin from Escherichia coli (STa) but not cAMP. To explore the mechanism of STa-induced bicarbonate secretion in CF more fully, we examined the role of CFTR in STa-stimulated duodenal bicarbonate secretion in mice. In vivo, the duodenum of CFTR (-/-) or control mice was perfused with forskolin (10(-4) M), STa (10(-7) M), uroguanylin (10(-7) M), 8-bromoguanosine 3',5'-cGMP (8-Br-cGMP) (10(-3) M), genistein (10(-6) M) plus STa, or herbimycin A (10(-6) M) plus STa. In vitro, duodenal mucosae were voltage-clamped in Ussing chambers, and bicarbonate secretion was measured by pH-stat. The effect of genistein, DIDS (10(-4) M), and chloride removal was also studied in vitro. Control, but not CF, mice produced a significant increase in duodenal bicarbonate secretion after perfusion with forskolin, uroguanylin, or 8-Br-cGMP. However, both control and CF animals responded to STa with significant increases in bicarbonate output. Genistein and herbimycin A abolished this response in CF mice but not in controls. In vitro, STa-stimulated bicarbonate secretion in CF tissues was inhibited by genistein, DIDS, and chloride-free conditions, whereas bicarbonate secretion persisted in control mice. In the CF duodenum, STa can stimulate bicarbonate secretion via tyrosine kinase activity resulting in apical Cl(-)/HCO(3)(-) exchange. Further studies elucidating the intracellular mechanisms responsible for such non-CFTR mediated bicarbonate secretion may lead to important therapies for CF.

Topics: Animals; Bacterial Toxins; Benzoquinones; Bicarbonates; Cell Membrane; Chloride-Bicarbonate Antiporters; Colforsin; Cyclic GMP; Cystic Fibrosis; Duodenum; Enterotoxins; Enzyme Inhibitors; Escherichia coli Proteins; Genistein; In Vitro Techniques; Lactams, Macrocyclic; Mice; Natriuretic Peptides; Peptides; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; Quinones; Rifabutin

The role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a potent endothelium-specific angiogenic factor, in the regulation of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was studied. VEGF (0.07-1.2 x 10(-6) mmol/l) caused a dose-dependent increase in ACE measured in intact endothelial cells and increased the expression of ACE mRNA. The stimulatory effect of VEGF was inhibited by pretreatment of endothelial cells with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor herbimycin (4.35 x 10(-5) mmol/l). The stimulatory effect of VEGF was potentiated by the selective cGMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor zaprinast (0.1 mmol/l). The nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; 5.4 mmol/l) suppressed the stimulatory effect of VEGF. The nonselective cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor indomethacin (5 microM) and the selective COX-2 inhibitor NS-398 (5 microM) potentiated the stimulatory effect of VEGF, whereas the selective COX-1 inhibitor resveratrol (5 microM) was without effect. ACE induction by VEGF was inhibited by the selective protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor GF109203X (2.5 x 10(-3) mmol/l) and by downregulating PKC with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. In summary, VEGF induced ACE in cultured HUVECs. Intracellular events such as tyrosine kinase activation, PKC activation, and increase of cGMP were probably involved in ACE induction by VEGF. Nitric oxide may partially contribute to ACE induction by VEGF. The powerful capacity of VEGF to increase ACE in endothelial cells shown here suggests a synergistic relation between VEGF and the renin-angiotensin system in vascular biology and pathophysiology.

Topics: Benzoquinones; Cell Division; Cells, Cultured; Cyclic GMP; Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors; Endothelial Growth Factors; Endothelium, Vascular; Enzyme Inhibitors; Epoprostenol; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; Humans; Indoles; Indomethacin; Lactams, Macrocyclic; Lymphokines; Maleimides; NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester; Nitric Oxide; Nitrobenzenes; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A; Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors; Protein Kinase C; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; Purinones; Quinones; Rifabutin; RNA, Messenger; Signal Transduction; Sulfonamides; Umbilical Veins; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors

Estradiol (E(2)) causes endothelium-dependent vasodilation, mediated, in part, by enhanced nitric oxide (NO) release. We have previously shown that E(2)-induced activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) reduces its calcium dependence. This pathway of eNOS activation is unique to a limited number of stimuli, including shear stress, the response to which is herbimycin-inhibitable. Consistent with this, herbimycin and geldanamycin pretreatment of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) abrogated E(2)-stimulated NO release and cGMP production, respectively. These benzoquinone ansamycins are potent inhibitors of Hsp90 function, which has recently been shown to play a role in stimulus-dependent eNOS activation. As in response to shear, E(2) induced an Hsp90-eNOS association, peaking at 30 min and completely inhibited by the conventional estrogen receptor antagonist ICI 182,780. These findings suggest that Hsp90 plays an important role in the rapid, estrogen receptor-mediated modulation of eNOS activation by estrogen.

Topics: Benzoquinones; Calcium; Cells, Cultured; Cyclic GMP; Endothelium, Vascular; Enzyme Inhibitors; Estradiol; Female; HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins; Humans; Lactams, Macrocyclic; Nitric Oxide; Nitric Oxide Synthase; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; Protein Binding; Quinones; Rifabutin

Shear stress and tyrosine phosphatase inhibitors have been shown to activate the endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) in a Ca2+/calmodulin-independent manner. We report here that isometric contraction of rabbit aorta activates eNOS by a pharmacologically identical pathway. Endothelium-intact aortic rings were precontracted under isometric conditions up to 60% of the maximal phenylephrine-induced tone. The NO synthase inhibitor NGnitro-L-arginine (L-NA) and the soluble guanylyl cyclase inhibitor NS 2028 induced an additional contraction, the amplitude of which depended on the level of precontraction. The maximal production of NO by isometrically contracted aortic rings (as estimated by the increase in cGMP in detector smooth muscle cells in a superfusion bioassay) was observed during the initial phase of isometric contraction and was greater than that detected following the application of acetylcholine. The supplementary L-NA-induced increase in vascular tone was inhibited by the nonselective kinase inhibitor staurosporine and the tyrosine kinase inhibitors erbstatin A and herbimycin A. Another tyrosine kinase inhibitor, genistein, the calmodulin antagonist calmidazolium, and the selective protein kinase C inhibitor, Ro 31-8220, had no effect. Coincident with the enhanced NO formation during isometric contraction was an increase in the tyrosine phosphorylation of endothelial proteins, which also correlated with the level of precontraction. Thus, isometric contraction activates eNOS via a Ca2+-independent, tyrosine kinase inhibitor-sensitive pathway and, like shear stress, seems to be an independent determinant of mechanically induced NO formation.

Topics: 1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine; Acetylcholine; Animals; Aorta, Thoracic; Benzoquinones; Calcium; Calmodulin; Cells, Cultured; Cyclic GMP; Endothelium, Vascular; Enzyme Activation; Enzyme Inhibitors; Female; Genistein; Hydroquinones; Imidazoles; In Vitro Techniques; Indoles; Isometric Contraction; Lactams, Macrocyclic; Male; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular; Nitric Oxide Synthase; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; Nitroarginine; Oxadiazoles; Oxazines; Quinones; Rabbits; Rifabutin; Staurosporine

CTGF is a 38 kDa cysteine-rich peptide whose synthesis and secretion are selectively induced by transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) in connective tissue cells. We have investigated the signaling pathways controlling the TGF-beta induction of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) gene expression. Our studies indicate that inhibitors of tyrosine kinases and protein kinase C do not block the signaling pathway used by TGF-beta to induce CTGF gene expression. In contrast, elevation of cAMP levels within the target cells by a variety of methods blocked the induction of CTGF by TGF-beta. Furthermore, agents that elevate cAMP blocked the induction of anchorage-independent growth (AIG) by TGF-beta. Inhibition of AIG could be overcome by the addition of CTGF, indicating that it was not a general inhibition of growth but a selective inhibition of CTGF synthesis that is responsible for the inhibition of TGF-beta-induced AIG by cAMP. Kinetic studies of the induction of DNA synthesis by CTGF in cells arrested by cAMP indicate that the block occurs in very late G1. These and other studies in monolayer cultures suggest that the CTGF restriction point in the cell cycle is distinct from the adhesion-dependent arrest point.

Topics: 3T3 Cells; 8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate; Animals; Benzoquinones; Cell Adhesion; Cell Cycle; Cell Division; Cell Line; Cholera Toxin; Connective Tissue Growth Factor; Cyclic AMP; Cyclic GMP; Gene Expression Regulation; Genes, Reporter; Growth Substances; Immediate-Early Proteins; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Lactams, Macrocyclic; Luciferases; Mice; Mitogens; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; Point Mutation; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Quinones; Rats; Recombinant Fusion Proteins; Rifabutin; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate; Transfection; Transforming Growth Factor beta