title: Mechanical stretch induces enhanced expression of angiotensin II receptor subtypes in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes.
abstract: Mechanical stress plays a pivotal role in the development of cardiac hypertrophy during hemodynamic overload, and angiotensin (Ang) II secreted from stretched myocytes plays an important role in mechanical stretch-induced hypertrophy. In the present study, we examined stretch-induced expression of Ang II receptors in an in vitro stretch model using 1-day-old rat myocytes. Both Ang II type 1 receptor (AT1-R) and type 2 receptor (AT2-R) mRNA levels were upregulated by myocyte stretching with similar time courses: significant increases were evident 6 hours after stretching, maximal levels (2.8- and 3.3-fold, respectively) were observed at 12 hours, and these were sustained for up to 18 hours. Ang II receptor expression in fibroblast-rich cultures was not affected by stretching. Conditioned medium in which myocytes were stretched for 12 hours significantly downregulated AT1-R and AT2-R mRNA levels in recipient myocytes, and this effect was almost completely blocked by AT1-R antagonists but not AT2-R antagonists. Stretch-induced expression of AT1-R and AT2-R mRNAs was further increased by 27% and 31%, respectively, after pretreatment with AT1-R antagonists, suggesting that Ang II secreted from stretched myocytes downregulates both AT1-R and AT2-R. Western blot and binding assays showed that the number of AT1-Rs and AT2-Rs increased by 2.4- and 2.6-fold, respectively, without affecting receptor affinities. Inositol phosphate response to 0.5 mumol/L Ang II was enhanced 2.1-fold in stretched myocytes. Nuclear runoff assays and treatment with actinomycin D revealed that stretch-induced upregulation of AT1-R was mainly due to increased transcription, whereas that of AT2-R resulted from a stabilizing effect on AT2-R mRNA metabolism. Stretch-induced changes in levels of Ang II receptors were inhibited by genistein but not by H-7, staurosporin, and protein kinase C depletion or by BAPTA-AM. Exposure to cycloheximide did not affect stretch-induced changes. These findings indicate that nonsecretory pathways activated by myocyte stretching upregulate the expression of Ang II receptor subtypes transcriptionally and posttranscriptionally through mechanisms involving stretch-activated tyrosine kinases independently of de novo protein synthesis and that the AT1-R-mediated action of Ang II is functionally enhanced in stretched cardiac myocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine II, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kijima
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsubara
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murasawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohkubo
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Komuro
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yazaki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwasaka
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inada
mesh_terms: D000804:Angiotensin II / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051381:Rats; D011945:Receptors, Angiotensin / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011945:Receptors, Angiotensin; D000804:Angiotensin II