title: Evidence that Rho-kinase activity contributes to cerebral vascular tone in vivo and is enhanced during chronic hypertension: comparison with protein kinase C.
abstract: The small G protein Rho and its target Rho-kinase may participate in the mechanisms underlying vascular contractile tone via inhibition of myosin light chain phosphatase. The present study has tested the hypothesis that Rho-kinase activity normally contributes to cerebral vascular tone in vivo, and that this effect is augmented during chronic hypertension. Comparative studies also examined the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in regulation of cerebral artery tone. Two Rho-kinase inhibitors, Y-27632 (0.1 to 100 micromol/L) and HA1077 (1 to 10 micromol/L), caused marked concentration-dependent increases in basilar artery diameter of anesthetized normotensive rats (Sprague-Dawley and Wistar-Kyoto [WKY] strains), as measured using a cranial window approach. By comparison, the selective PKC inhibitors calphostin C (0.01 to 0.5 micromol/L) and Ro 31-8220 (5 micromol/L) had little or no effect on basilar artery diameter. Vasodilator responses to Y-27632 were unaffected by PKC inhibition or activation. In two models of chronic hypertension (spontaneously hypertensive rats and WKY rats treated with N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester for 4 weeks), Y-27632 elicited cerebral vasodilator responses that were significantly greater than in control WKY rats (P<0.05), indicating that the chronically hypertensive state and not genetic factors contributed to the increased responses to Rho-kinase inhibition. PKC inhibition had no significant effect on basilar artery diameter in chronically hypertensive rats. These data suggest that Rho-kinase, but not PKC, activity contributes substantially to cerebral artery tone in vivo, and this effect is augmented in the cerebral circulation during chronic hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chrissobolis
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Sobey
mesh_terms: D000577:Amides / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001488:Basilar Artery / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D006973:Hypertension / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008297:Male; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D011725:Pyridines / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013045:Species Specificity; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D014666:Vasomotor System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases
chemical_list: D000577:Amides; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D011725:Pyridines; D014665:Vasodilator Agents; C108830:Y 27632; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases; D011493:Protein Kinase C; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester