title: Nitric oxide inhibits lipopolysaccharide-induced apoptosis in pulmonary artery endothelial cells.
abstract: Our group recently reported that cultured sheep pulmonary artery endothelial cells (SPAECs) became resistant to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced apoptosis several days after constitutive synthesis of nitric oxide (NO) after adenoviral (Ad) transfer of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) or exposure to the NO donor S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) (E. Tzeng, Y.-M. Kim, B. R. Pitt, A. Lizonova, I. Kovesdi, and T. R. Billiar. Surgery 122: 255-263, 1997). In the present study, we confirmed this observation by establishing stable transfectants after retroviral gene transfer [replication-deficient retrovirus (DFG)] of human iNOS (DFG-iNOS) SPAECs and then used all three approaches (Ad, DFG, and SNAP) to determine underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon. Continuous endogenous production of NO in itself did not cause apoptosis as assessed by phase-contrast microscopy, nuclear morphology, and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation. Prolonged (72-96 h) synthesis of NO, however, after DFG- or replication-deficient adenovirus (Ad. CMV)-iNOS or SNAP (100 microM, 96 h) inhibited LPS-induced apoptosis. The kinetics of such protection suggested that NO may be inducing other gene products. Ad-mediated transfer of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) decreased the sensitivity of wild-type SPAECs to LPS-induced apoptosis. MnSOD, however, was not induced in an NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA)-sensitive time-dependent fashion after Ad.CMV-iNOS. Other inducible genes that may be affected by NO and that may protect against potential oxidant-mediated LPS-induced apoptosis including 70-kDa heat shock protein, heme oxygenase-1, metallothionein, and Bcl-2 also were not elevated in an L-NMMA-sensitive, time-dependent fashion. Although the candidate gene product underlying NO-induced protection remains unclear, we did note that prolonged synthesis of NO inhibited LPS-induced activation of an interleukin-1beta-converting enzyme-like cysteine protease (cysteine protease protein-32-like) in a dithiothreitol-sensitive fashion, suggesting that S-nitrosylation of an important downstream target of convergence of apoptotic signals may contribute to the sensitivity of SPAECs to LPS.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA.
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Ceneviva
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tzeng
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Hoyt
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yee
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Engelhardt
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Billiar
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Pitt
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008979:Moloney murine leukemia virus; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000502:physiology*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D009573:Nitrites / Q000378:metabolism; D011651:Pulmonary Artery; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D012756:Sheep; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism; D014162:Transfection; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000648:ultrastructure; D019323:omega-N-Methylarginine / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D009573:Nitrites; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019323:omega-N-Methylarginine; D009569:Nitric Oxide; C496319:NOS2 protein, human; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; C505407:CASP3 protein, human; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases