Stretch-induced triphosphorylation of myosin light chain and myogenic tone in canine basilar artery

Vascular mechanotransduction

This review aims to survey the current state of mechanotransduction in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and endothelial cells (ECs), including their sensing of mechanical stimuli and transduction of mechanical signals that result in the acute functional modulation and longer-term transcriptomic and epigenetic regulation of blood vessels. The mechanosensors discussed include ion channels, plasma membrane-associated structures and receptors, and junction proteins. The mechanosignaling pathways presented include the cytoskeleton, integrins, extracellular matrix, and intracellular signaling molecules. These are followed by discussions on mechanical regulation of transcriptome and epigenetics, relevance of mechanotransduction to health and disease, and interactions between VSMCs and ECs. Throughout this review, we offer suggestions for specific topics that require further understanding. In the closing section on conclusions and perspectives, we summarize what is known and point out the need to treat the vasculature as a system, including not only VSMCs and ECs but also the extracellular matrix and other types of cells such as resident macrophages and pericytes, so that we can fully understand the physiology and pathophysiology of the blood vessel as a whole, thus enhancing the comprehension, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of vascular diseases.

Role of serine-threonine phosphoprotein phosphatases in smooth muscle contractility

The degree of phosphorylation of myosin light chain 20 (MLC20) is a major determinant of force generation in smooth muscle. Myosin phosphatases (MPs) contain protein phosphatase (PP) 1 as catalytic subunits and are the major enzymes that dephosphorylate MLC20. MP regulatory targeting subunit 1 (MYPT1), the main regulatory subunit of MP in all smooth muscles, is a key convergence point of contractile and relaxatory pathways. Combinations of regulatory mechanisms, including isoform splicing, multiple phosphorylation sites, and scaffolding proteins, modulate MYPT1 activity with tissue and agonist specificities to affect contraction and relaxation. Other members of the PP1 family that do not target myosin, as well as PP2A and PP2B, dephosphorylate a range of proteins that affect smooth muscle contraction. This review discusses the role of phosphatases in smooth muscle contractility with a focus on MYPT1 in uterine smooth muscle. Myometrium shares characteristics of vascular and other visceral smooth muscles yet, during healthy pregnancy, undergoes hypertrophy, hyperplasia, quiescence, and labor as physiological processes. Myometrium presents an accessible model for the study of normal and pathological smooth muscle function, and a better understanding of myometrial physiology may allow the development of novel therapeutics for the many disorders of myometrial physiology from preterm labor to dysmenorrhea.

Ca2+ sensitization via phosphorylation of myosin phosphatase targeting subunit at threonine-855 by Rho kinase contributes to the arterial myogenic response

Ca(2+) sensitization has been postulated to contribute to the myogenic contraction of resistance arteries evoked by elevation of transmural pressure. However, the biochemical evidence of pressure-induced increases in phosphorylated myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCP) targeting subunit 1 (MYPT1) and/or 17 kDa protein kinase C (PKC)-potentiated protein phosphatase 1 inhibitor protein (CPI-17) required to sustain this view is not currently available. Here, we determined whether Ca(2+) sensitization pathways involving Rho kinase (ROK)- and PKC-dependent phosphorylation of MYPT1 and CPI-17, respectively, contribute to the myogenic response of rat middle cerebral arteries. ROK inhibitors (Y27632, 0.03-10 micromol l(-1); H1152, 0.001-0.3 micromol l(-1)) and PKC inhibitors (GF109203X, 3 micromol l(-1); Gö6976; 10 micromol l(-1)) suppressed myogenic vasoconstriction between 40 and 120 mmHg. An improved, highly sensitive 3-step Western blot method was developed for detection and quantification of MYPT1 and CPI-17 phosphorylation. Increasing pressure from 10 to 60 or 100 mmHg significantly increased phosphorylation of MYPT1 at threonine-855 (T855) and myosin light chain (LC(20)). Phosphorylation of MYPT1 at threonine-697 (T697) and CPI-17 were not affected by pressure. Pressure-evoked elevations in MYPT1-T855 and LC(20) phosphorylation were reduced by H1152, but MYPT1-T697 phosphorylation was unaffected. Inhibition of PKC with GF109203X did not affect MYPT1 or LC(20) phosphorylation at 100 mmHg. Our findings provide the first direct, biochemical evidence that a Ca(2+) sensitization pathway involving ROK-dependent phosphorylation of MYPT1 at T855 (but not T697) and subsequent augmentation of LC(20) phosphorylation contributes to myogenic control of arterial diameter in the cerebral vasculature. In contrast, suppression of the myogenic response by PKC inhibitors cannot be attributed to block of Ca(2+) sensitization mediated by CPI-17 or MYPT1 phosphorylation.

Role of protein kinase Czeta and calcium entry in KCl-induced vascular smooth muscle calcium sensitization and feedback control of cellular calcium levels

The degree of tonic force (F) maintenance induced in vascular smooth muscle upon K(+) depolarization with 110 mM KCl can be greatly reduced by inhibition of rhoA kinase (ROCK). We explored the possibility that a protein kinase C (PKC) isotype may also play a role in causing KCl-induced Ca(2+) sensitization. In isometric rings of rabbit artery, the PKC inhibitors, Go-6983 (3-[1-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]-5-methoxy-1H-indol-3-yl]-4-(1H-indol-3-yl)-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione), GF-109203X (2-[1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)indol-3-yl]-3-(indol-3-yl) maleimide), and a cell-permeable (myristoylated) pseudosubstrate inhibitor of PKCzeta (PI(PKCzeta)) inhibited KCl-induced tonic F. A myristoylated pseudosubstrate inhibitor of PKCalpha/beta that inhibited phorbol dibutyrate-induced F slightly potentiated KCl-induced tonic F and attenuated 30 mM KCl-induced F. Although the ROCK inhibitor, H-1152 [(S)-(+)-2-methyl-1-[(4-methyl-5-isoquinolinyl)-sulfonyl]-hexahydro-1H-1,4-diazepine dihydrochloride], reduced basal phosphorylation of myosin light-chain phosphatase-targeting subunit at Thr853 (MYPT1-pT853), 3 and 10 muM GF-109203X inhibited only KCl-stimulated phosphorylation, not basal MYPT1-pT853. In fura-2-loaded tissues, GF-109203X and PI(PKCzeta) elevated basal [Ca(2+)](i) (calcium) and potentiated KCl-induced tonic increases in calcium while reducing KCl-induced tonic increases in F. Blockade by nifedipine of Ca(2+) entry through voltage-operated Ca(2+) channels reduced KCl-induced Ca(2+) sensitization and KCl-stimulated but not basal MYPT1-pT853. These data together support a model in which ROCK and PKCzeta are constitutively active and function in "resting" muscle to regulate the basal levels of MYPT1-pT853 and calcium, respectively. In this model, KCl-induced increases in calcium activate PKCzeta to feed forward and cause additional MYPT1-pT853 above that induced by constitutive ROCK, permitting Ca(2+) sensitization and strong F maintenance. Active PKCzeta also feeds back to attenuate the degree of KCl-induced increases in calcium.

The relaxant effect of okadaic acid on canine basilar artery involves activation of PKCalpha and phosphorylation of the myosin light chain at Thr-9

Vasodilator responses induced by okadaic acid were investigated in canine basilar artery precontracted with 80 mM KCl. Okadaic acid (1 microM) relaxed the artery and this relaxant effect was partially inhibited by Gö6976, a conventional protein kinase C inhibitor, and calphostin C, an inhibitor of conventional and novel PKCs. Rottlerin, a specific inhibitor of PKCdelta, did not influence okadaic acid's effect. KCl increased phosphorylation of 20,000-Dalton myosin light chain (MLC(20)) at Ser-19. Okadaic acid additionally increased MLC(20) phosphorylation at Thr-18 and Thr-9, resulting in triphosphorylation of MLC(20). This phosphorylation was inhibited by Gö6976. Okadaic acid stimulated phosphorylation of PKCalpha and 17,000-Dalton PKC-potentiated inhibitory phosphoprotein (CPI-17), and Gö6976 inhibited these phosphorylations. These results suggest that okadaic acid's relaxant effect involves MLC(20) triphosphorylation through a direct phosphorylation by PKCalpha and an indirect phosphorylation by inhibition of myosin light chain phosphatase through PKCalpha-mediated CPI-17 phosphorylation.

Myogenic contractility is more dependent on myofilament calcium sensitization in term fetal than adult ovine cerebral arteries

Regulation of cytosolic calcium and myofilament calcium sensitivity varies considerably with postnatal age in cerebral arteries. Because these mechanisms also govern myogenic tone, the present study used graded stretch to examine the hypothesis that myogenic tone is less dependent on calcium influx and more dependent on myofilament calcium sensitization in term fetal compared with adult cerebral arteries. Term fetal and adult posterior communicating cerebral arteries exhibited similar myogenic responses, with peak tensions averaging 24 and 26% of maximum contractile force produced in any given tissue in response to an isotonic Krebs buffer containing 122 mM K+ (Kmax) at optimum stretch ratios (working diameter/unstressed diameter) of 2.19 and 2.23, respectively. Graded stretch increased cytosolic Ca2+ concentration at stretch ratios >2.0 in adult arteries, but increased Ca2+ concentration only at stretch ratios >2.3 in fetal arteries. In permeabilized arteries, myogenic tone peaked at a stretch ratio of 2.1 in both fetal and adult arteries. The fetal %Kmax values at peak myogenic tone were not significantly different at either pCa 7.0 (23%) or pCa 5.5 (25%) but were significantly less at pCa 8.0 (8.4 ± 2.3%). Conversely, adult %Kmax values at peak myogenic tone were significantly less at both pCa 8.0 (10.4 ± 1.8%) and pCa 7.0 (16%) than at pCa 5.5 (27%). The maximal extents of stretch-induced increases in myosin light chain phosphorylation in intact fetal (20%) and adult (17%) arteries were similar. The data demonstrate that the cerebrovascular myogenic response is highly conserved during postnatal maturation but is mediated differently in fetal and adult cerebral arteries.