title: Hepatocyte growth factor activates endothelial nitric oxide synthase by Ca(2+)- and phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt-dependent phosphorylation in aortic endothelial cells.
abstract: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) causes endothelium-dependent vasodilation, but its relation to endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity remains to be elucidated. Treatment of bovine aortic endothelial cells with HGF increased eNOS activity within minutes, accompanied by an increase of activity-related site-specific phosphorylation of eNOS. The phosphorylation was completely abolished by pretreatment of the cells with a phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor (wortmannin) and by transfection of dominant-negative Akt, and the enzyme activity was inhibited by wortmannin. In addition, eNOS activity and phosphorylation were abolished by pretreatment of the cells with an intracellular Ca(2+)-chelator, bis-(o-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetra-acetic acid tetrakis(acetoxymethyl ester) (BAPTA/AM), with a suppression of Akt phosphorylation. These results suggest that HGF stimulates eNOS activity by a PI3K/Akt-dependent phosphorylation in a Ca(2+)-sensitive manner in vascular endothelial cells.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan.
authors.forename: Kennedy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Makondo
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: Takanori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yamaji
authors.forename: Bae Dong
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002417:Cattle; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000201:enzymology*; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000378:metabolism*; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C496314:NOS3 protein, human; C494918:AKT1 protein, human