Coordination of mural elements and myofilaments during arteriolar constriction

Heterocellular Contact Can Dictate Arterial Function

RATIONALE

Resistance arteries and conduit arteries rely on different relative contributions of endothelial-derived hyperpolarization versus nitric oxide to achieve dilatory heterocellular signaling. Anatomically, resistance arteries use myoendothelial junctions (MEJs), endothelial cell projections that make contact with smooth muscle cells. Conduit arteries have very few to no MEJs.

OBJECTIVE

Determine if the presence of MEJs in conduit arteries can alter heterocellular signaling.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We previously demonstrated that PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor-1) can regulate formation of MEJs. Thus, we applied pluronic gel containing PAI-1 directly to conduit arteries (carotid arteries) to determine if this could induce formation of MEJs. We found a significant increase in endothelial cell projections resembling MEJs that correlated with increased biocytin dye transfer from endothelial cells to smooth muscle cells. Next, we used pressure myography to investigate whether these structural changes were accompanied by a functional change in vasodilatory signaling. Interestingly, PAI-1-treated carotids underwent a switch from a conduit to resistance artery vasodilatory profile via diminished nitric oxide signaling and increased endothelial-derived hyperpolarization signaling in response to the endothelium-dependent agonists acetylcholine and NS309. After PAI-1 application, we also found a significant increase in carotid expression of endothelial alpha globin, a protein predominantly expressed in resistance arteries. Carotids from mice with PAI-1, but lacking alpha globin (Hba1^-/-), demonstrated that l-nitro-arginine methyl ester, an inhibitor of nitric oxide signaling, was able to prevent arterial relaxation.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence or absence of MEJs is an important determinant for influencing heterocellular communication in the arterial wall. In particular, alpha globin expression, induced within newly formed endothelial cell projections, may influence the balance between endothelial-derived hyperpolarization and nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation.

N-Cadherin, a novel and rapidly remodelling site involved in vasoregulation of small cerebral arteries

KEY POINTS

N-cadherin formed punctate adherens junctions (AJ) along the borders between vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in the pressurized rat superior cerebellar artery. The formation of N-cadherin AJs in the vessel wall depends on the intraluminal pressure and was responsive to treatment with phenylephrine (PE) (10^-5  m) and ACh (10^-5  m). N-cadherin-coated beads were able to induce clustering of N-cadherin-enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) on the plasma membrane of isolated VSMCs, whereas treatment with PE (10^-5  m) or sodium nitroprusside (10^-5  m) induced a significant increase or decrease in the N-cadherin-EGFP clustering, respectively. Application of pulling force (∼1 nN) to the N-cadherin-coated beads via an atomic force microscope induced a localized mechanical response from the VSMCs that opposed the pulling.

ABSTRACT

N-cadherin is the major cell-cell adhesion molecule in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). We tested the hypothesis that N-cadherin is part of a novel mechanosensory mechanism in VSMCs and plays an active role in both the arteriolar myogenic response and during changes in vascular tone induced by vasomotor agonists. Intact and pressurized rat superior cerebellar arteries were labelled for confocal immunofluorescence imaging. N-cadherin formed punctate adherens junctions (AJ) along the borders between VSMCs. When the lumen pressure was raised from 50 to 90 mmHg, both the density and the average size of N-cadherin AJs increased significantly. Similarly, arteriolar constriction with phenylephrine (PE) (10^-5  m) induced a significant increase of N-cadherin AJ density at 50 mmHg, whereas vasodilatation induced by ACh (10^-5  m) was accompanied by a significant decrease in density and size of N-cadherin AJs. An atomic force microscope (AFM) was employed to further examine the mechano-responsive properties of N-cadherin adhesion sites in isolated VSMCs. AFM probes with an attached N-cadherin-coated microbead (5 μm) induced a progressive clustering of N-cadherin-enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) on the VSMC surface. Application of pulling force (∼1 nN) to the N-cadherin-coated-beads with the AFM induced a localized mechanical response from the VSMCs that opposed the pulling. Treatment with PE (10^-5  m) or sodium nitroprusside (10^-5  m) induced a significant increase or decrease of the N-cadherin-EGFP clustering, respectively. These observations provide compelling evidence that N-cadherin AJs are sensitive to pressure and vasomotor agonists in VSMCs and support a functional role of N-cadherin AJs in vasomotor regulation.

Mechanics of Vascular Smooth Muscle

Vascular smooth muscle (VSM; see Table 1 for a list of abbreviations) is a heterogeneous biomaterial comprised of cells and extracellular matrix. By surrounding tubes of endothelial cells, VSM forms a regulated network, the vasculature, through which oxygenated blood supplies specialized organs, permitting the development of large multicellular organisms. VSM cells, the engine of the vasculature, house a set of regulated nanomotors that permit rapid stress-development, sustained stress-maintenance and vessel constriction. Viscoelastic materials within, surrounding and attached to VSM cells, comprised largely of polymeric proteins with complex mechanical characteristics, assist the engine with countering loads imposed by the heart pump, and with control of relengthening after constriction. The complexity of this smart material can be reduced by classical mechanical studies combined with circuit modeling using spring and dashpot elements. Evaluation of the mechanical characteristics of VSM requires a more complete understanding of the mechanics and regulation of its biochemical parts, and ultimately, an understanding of how these parts work together to form the machinery of the vascular tree. Current molecular studies provide detailed mechanical data about single polymeric molecules, revealing viscoelasticity and plasticity at the protein domain level, the unique biological slip-catch bond, and a regulated two-step actomyosin power stroke. At the tissue level, new insight into acutely dynamic stress-strain behavior reveals smooth muscle to exhibit adaptive plasticity. At its core, physiology aims to describe the complex interactions of molecular systems, clarifying structure-function relationships and regulation of biological machines. The intent of this review is to provide a comprehensive presentation of one biomachine, VSM.

The dynamic structure of arterioles

Arterioles are the blood vessels in the arterial side of the vascular tree that are located proximal to the capillaries and, in conjunction with the terminal arteries, provide the majority of resistance to blood flow. Consequently, arterioles are important contributors to the regulation of mean arterial pressure and tissue perfusion. Their wall consists of cellular and extracellular components that have been traditionally classified as conforming three layers: an intima containing endothelial cells sited on a basement membrane; a media made of an internal elastic lamina apposed by one or two layers of smooth muscle; and an adventitia composed mostly of collagen bundles, nerve endings and some fibroblasts. These components of the arteriolar wall are dynamically interconnected, providing a level of plasticity to the arteriolar wall that blurs the traditional boundaries of a rigid layered classification. This MiniReview focuses on the structural conformation of the arteriolar wall and shows how wall components interact spatially, functionally and temporally to control vascular diameter, regulate blood flow and maintain vascular permeability.

Flow inhibits inward remodeling in cannulated porcine small coronary arteries

The mechanisms of flow-induced vascular remodeling are poorly understood, especially in the coronary microcirculation. We hypothesized that application of flow in small coronary arteries in organoid culture would cause a nitric oxide (NO)-mediated dilation and inhibit inward remodeling. We developed an organoid culture setup to drive a flow through cannulated arterioles at constant luminal pressure via a pressure gradient between the pipettes. Subepicardial porcine coronary arterioles with diameter at full dilation and 60 mmHg ( D0) of 168 ± 10 (SE) μm were cannulated. Vessels treated with Nω-nitro-l-arginine (l-NNA) to block NO production and untreated vessels were pressurized at 60 mmHg for 3 days with and without flow. Endothelium-dependent dilation to 10−7M bradykinin was preserved in all groups. Tone was significantly less in vessels cultured under flow conditions in the last half of the culture period. Untreated and l-NNA-treated vessels regulated their diameter to yield shear stresses of 10.3 ± 2.1 and 14.0 ± 2.4 (SE) dyn/cm2, respectively (not significantly different). Without l-NNA, passive pressure-diameter curves at the end of the culture period revealed inward remodeling in the control group [to 92.3 ± 1.3% of D0(SE)] and no remodeling in the vessels cultured under flow conditions (100.2 ± 1.3% of D0); with l-NNA, the group subjected to flow showed inward remodeling (92.1 ± 2.5% of D0). We conclude that pressurized coronary resistance arteries could be maintained in culture for several days with flow. Vessels cultured under flow conditions remained more dilated when NO synthesis was blocked. Inward remodeling occurred in vessels cultured under no-flow conditions and was inhibited by flow-dependent NO synthesis.

Nitric oxide-mediated arteriolar dilation after endothelial deformation

Previously, we frequently observed dilation of arterioles after agonist-induced constrictions. We hypothesized that deformation of the endothelium during decreases in diameter of isolated arterioles elicits the release of nitric oxide (NO). In isolated arterioles of rat mesentery, phenylephrine (PE, 10(-7) M)-, U-46619 (10(-7) M)-, and KCl (50 mM)-induced constrictions were followed by potent dilations. Inhibition of NO synthase with N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA, 2 x 10(-4) M) or removal of the endothelium significantly enhanced constriction and reduced the postconstriction dilation. In the presence of 80 mmHg of intraluminal pressure, an increase in extraluminal pressure (P(e)) to 75 mmHg for 20 s and 1 and 2 min decreased vessel diameter. After release of P(e), arterioles dilated as a function of the duration of diameter reduction by P(e). Removal of the endothelium or administration of L-NNA significantly diminished the post-P(e) dilations. In cultured mesenteric arteriolar endothelial cells (EC), PE, U-46619, or KCl did not increase, whereas ACh did increase, the production of NO, as measured by a fluorometric assay for nitrite. Furthermore, when EC, cultured on a stretched silicone membrane, were subjected to deformation by shortening the membrane to 50% of its original length, NO release increased significantly. Based on all of the above, we propose that deformation of EC per se elicits release of NO, a mechanism that modulates arteriolar constriction.

Wall tension and contraction of the aorta in 6-month-old spontaneously hypertensive rats

1. The present study aimed at comparing the influence of passive tension on the effect exerted by noradrenaline on the thoracic aorta of 6-month-old Wistar and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). 2. Concentration-response curves to noradrenaline were obtained in aorta rings, at two levels of passive tension: 3 and 0.5 g. 3. The maximal responses (in percentage of the maximal response to noradrenaline obtained in the beginning of the experiment at a tension of 2 g) were significantly larger (P < 0.05) at 3 g than at 0.5 g in both kinds of rats: 171 versus 69%, respectively, for SHR; 139 versus 76%, respectively, for Wistar rats. 4. When expressed as mg of active tension per mg of tissue, the maximal contraction at both 3 and 0.5 g was smaller in SHR than in Wistar rats (at 3 g: 64.6 +/- 6.7, n = 6 versus 122.3 +/- 19.1, n = 8, respectively, P < 0.05; at 0.5 g: 24.0 +/- 1.0, n = 6 versus 49.0 +/- 5.9, n = 8, respectively, P < 0.05). 5. Maximal responses to noradrenaline were markedly decreased by cytochalasin B (50 microM) (to 15.2 +/- 6.0%, n = 6, at 3 g and 2.8 +/- 1.9%, n = 6, at 0.5 g in SHR; to 11.8 +/- 2.3%, n = 4, at 3 g and 4.3 +/- 1.3%, n = 4, at 0.5 g in Wistar rats). Cytochalasin B at a lower concentration (4 microM) produced a less marked decrease in responses to noradrenaline in both strains of rats. The presence of cardiovascular structural changes in SHR was confirmed by the fact that the heart weight (mg):body weight (g) was higher in SHR (3.37 +/- 0.06, n = 10) than in Wistar rats (2.40 +/- 0.12, n = 11) (P < 0.05). 6. It is concluded that in 6-month-old SHR the contractile capacity of the aortic tissue is reduced. However, the differential sensitivity of aortic smooth muscle at the two different levels of tension remains present. This difference may depend on filament interaction. Contractions to noradrenaline in the rat aorta are highly dependent on actin polymerization.

Is non-specific aneurysmal disease of the infrarenal aorta also a peripheral microvascular disease?

OBJECTIVES

to examine whether aneurysmal disease of the aorta has a functional component in the peripheral microIvasculature.

MATERIALS

ten normal persons; and 15 patients who had been operated on for ruptured non-specific infrarenal aortic aneurysm months to years previously were studied.

METHODS

blood flow rates were measured: (a) in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of the forefoot by the(133)xenon local washout method (perfusion through nutritive capillaries supplied by arterioles with elastin in the tunica media); and (b) in the arteriovenous anastomoses of the pulp of the first toe as measured by the heat washout method (perfusion predominantly through thick-walled tubes without elastin). Perfusion rates were measured in supine subjects at heart level, at 30 cm above and at 30 cm below heart level.

RESULTS

in subcutaneous adipose tissue, the capillary blood flow rate was four times higher in patients with aneurysmal disease than in normal subjects. Both groups exhibited autoregulation of blood flow and a normal veno-arteriolar sympathetic axon reflex. Blood flow rates in the arteriovenous anastomoses of the pulp did not differ between aneurysm patients and normal subjects. Autoregulation and the axon reflex were absent in the arteriovenous anastomoses of normal subjects as well as in aneurysm patients.

CONCLUSIONS

non-specific aneurysmal disease of the infrarenal aorta has a peripheral functional component affecting arterioles but not arteriovenous anastomoses.

Expression of smooth muscle myosin heavy chains and unloaded shortening in single smooth muscle cells

The functional significance of the variable expression of the smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SM-MHC) tail isoforms, SM1 and SM2, was examined at the mRNA level (which correlates with the protein level) in individual permeabilized rabbit arterial smooth muscle cells (SMCs). The length of untethered single permeabilized SMCs was monitored during unloaded shortening in response to increased Ca2+ (pCa 6.0), histamine (1 microM), and phenylephrine (1 microM). Subsequent to contraction, the relative expression of SM1 and SM2 mRNAs from the same individual SMCs was determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction amplification and densitometric analysis. Correlational analyses between the SM2-to-SM1 ratio and unloaded shortening in saponin- and alpha-toxin-permeabilized SMCs (n = 28) reveal no significant relationship between the SM-MHC tail isoform ratio and unloaded shortening velocity. The best correlations between SM2/SM1 and the contraction characteristics of untethered vascular SMCs were with the minimum length attained following contraction (n = 20 and r = 0.72 for alpha-toxin, n = 8 and r = 0.78 for saponin). These results suggest that the primary effect of variable expression of the SM1 and SM2 SM-MHC tail isoforms is on the cell final length and not on shortening velocity.

On the origin and dynamics of the vasomotion of small arteries

A system of differential equations describing stationary vasomotion is formulated. It incorporates the ionic transports, cell-membrane potential, muscle contraction of the vessel smooth muscle cells, and the mechanics of a thick-walled cylinder. It is shown that the interaction of Ca2+ and K+ fluxes mediated by voltage-gated and voltage-calcium-gated channels, respectively, brings about periodicity of those transports. This results on a time-periodic cytoplasmic calcium concentration, myosin light chains phosphorylation, and crossbridges formation with the attending muscle stress. The vessel's transmural pressure determines a hoop stress. The resultant hoop, elastic, and muscle stresses determine the rate of change of the vessel's diameter: vasomotion. The model results agree with the experimental observations. The sensitivity of the vasomotion's dependence on parameter values and its significance to experimental protocols are examined. Further, it is hypothesized that the dependence of calcium-channel openings on voltage is shifted by changes on transmural pressure. Thus, Harder's experimental results are reproduced, among them the decreasing of vessel diameter with increasing pressure. Those behaviors are associated with a pattern of change of the singularities of the system of equations describing the model. This suggests a functional relationship on the interactions of Ca2+ and K+ fluxes responsible for the myogenic response; it may not result from a single molecular mechanism. The model is constructed so that additional experimental information can be readily incorporated.

Endothelial cell helix in small arterioles of human ureters. A study by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

Microvessel corrosion casts of human ureters were prepared. Portions of casts were longitudinally cut by use of a pulsed Eximer laser beam in order to get insight into microvessel branches studied in SEM. Larger arterioles (greater than 30 microns in diameter) showed oval imprints of endothelial cell nuclei along the vessel axis. Imprints were found in furrows parallel to resin ridges. Smaller arterioles (less than microns in diameter) displayed imprints of nuclei aligned in a helix around the vessel axis. With regard to capillaries, one nucleus imprint was spaced far apart from the other. Venules demonstrated a reticular network of thick, attenuated resin ridges and of small meshes which consisted of round or oval nucleus imprints. It is concluded that smaller arterioles form an endothelial cells helix.

Pharmacological and mechanical heterogeneity of cat isolated ophthalmociliary artery

The mechanical, histological and pharmacological properties of the isolated cat ophthalmociliary artery are reported and compared for passively stretched ring segments from three locations on the artery. Ring segments were mounted in a modified myograph system after the method of Hogestatt, Andersson and Edvinsson (1983, Acta Physiol Scand. 117, 49-61) and comparative length tension curves were measured. The most distal segment (DOA), nearest the eye, developed by far the smallest maximal tension compared to the middle segment (MOA) and the most proximal segment (POA), despite the fact that lumen diameters were similar. All segments displayed a phasic and tonic component in response to passive stretching and during activation with K(+)-Krebs. Cumulative contractile dose-response curves were measured for nine agonists: histamine (HIS), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), dopamine (DOPA), adrenaline (A), noradrenaline (NA), tyramine (TYR), phenylephrine (PHE), isoproterenol (ISOP) and xylazine (XYL) and the maximum active tension developed at a concentration of 10(-3) M was compared with that for 0.124 M K(+)-Krebs. The order of contraction magnitude in the three segments was: POA, HIS much greater than Kmax much greater than NA greater than A greater than DOPA greater than PH = TYR greater than 5-HT = ISOP greater than XYL; MOA, Kmax much greater than NA much greater than A = HIS much greater than DOPA greater than ISOP = PHE greater than TYR = 5-HT greater than XYL; DOA, Kmax much greater than NA greater than A greater than HIS = DOPA greater than ISOP greater than PHE = 5-HT greater than XYL = TYR. Pre-activation did not produce relaxation in response to histamine and isoproterenol. Testing with specific alpha 1 and beta antagonists supported the presence of alpha 1 receptors but not beta receptors. It is concluded that functional HIS, alpha 1 and 5-HT receptors are present and that the ophthalmociliary artery is heterogeneous in its response to HIS, with the POA segment producing the largest responses. The magnitude of the contractile responses to A and NA grew with increasing passive tension, whereas the response to histamine was independent of passive tension.

Arteriolar control of capillary cell flow in striated muscle

This study tests the hypothesis that capillary perfusion is controlled in groups rather than at the level of the individual capillary. We measured cell flux (using cells labeled with substituted tetramethyl rhodamine isothiocyanate, XRITC) and vessel diameter in adjoining arterioles of the terminal vasculature of hamster cremaster muscle (Nembutal, 70 mg/kg i.p.) during rest and hyperemia (10(-4) M adenosine). In terminal arterioles (TAs), 32 of 68 vessels showed cell flux increases from rest to hyperemia exceeding 25 times (i.e., 47% of TAs were relatively unperfused at rest). In vessels feeding TAs (TAFs), 33 of 95 (34%) were relatively unperfused at rest. Cell flux heterogeneity in TAFs decreased significantly by 27% from rest to hyperemia; the corresponding decrease (16%) in TAs was not significant. Thus, unperfused TAFs are present in a proportion which reflects capillary recruitment in hamster cremaster (Sarelius et al, Am J Physiol 1981;241:H317) while TAs are not, and TAFs independently modulate flow distribution distally while TAs do not. The data therefore support the conclusion that TAFs control cell flow in the distal microvasculature. Analysis of normalized ranked maximal diameters showed that TAFs unperfused at rest tend to be the smaller vessels at any tissue site.