title: Effect of changes in pH on wall tension in isolated rat pulmonary artery: role of the RhoA/Rho-kinase pathway.
abstract: Pulmonary arteries (PA) are resistant to the vasodilator effects of extracellular acidosis in systemic vessels; the mechanism underlying this difference between systemic and pulmonary circulations has not been elucidated. We hypothesized that RhoA/Rho-kinase-mediated Ca2+ sensitization pathway played a greater role in tension development in pulmonary than in systemic vascular smooth muscle and that this pathway was insensitive to acidosis. In arterial rings contracted with the alpha1-agonist phenylephrine (PE), the Rho-kinase inhibitor Y-27632 (< or =3 microM) induced greater relaxation in precontracted PA rings than in aortic rings. In PA rings stimulated by PE, the activation of RhoA was greater than in aorta. Normocapnic acidosis (NA) induced a smaller relaxation in precontracted PA than in aorta. However, in the presence of nifedipine and thapsigargin, when PE-induced contraction was predominantly mediated by Rho-kinase, the relaxant effect of NA was reduced and similar in both vessel types. Furthermore, in the presence of Y-27632, NA induced a greater relaxation in both PA and aorta, which was similar in both vessels. Finally, in alpha-toxin-permeabilized smooth muscle, PE-induced contraction at constant Ca2+ activity was inhibited by Y-27632 and unaffected by acidosis. These results indicate that Ca2+ sensitization induced by the RhoA/Rho-kinase pathway played a greater role in agonist-induced vascular smooth muscle contraction in PA than in aorta and that tension mediated by this pathway was insensitive to acidosis. The predominant role of the RhoA/Rho-kinase pathway in the pulmonary vasculature may account for the resistance of this circulation to the vasodilator effect of acidosis observed in the systemic circulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hyvelin
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McLoughlin
mesh_terms: D000577:Amides / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000502:physiology; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000502:physiology; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D011725:Pyridines / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000502:physiology; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases; D020742:rhoA GTP-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000577:Amides; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D011725:Pyridines; C108830:Y 27632; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases; D020742:rhoA GTP-Binding Protein