Angiopoietin-1 attenuates H2O2-induced SEK1/JNK phosphorylation through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathway in vascular endothelial cells.
Oxidative stress activates various signal transduction pathways, including Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and its substrates, that induce apoptosis. We reported here the role of angiopoietin-1 (Ang1), which is a prosurvival factor in endothelial cells, during endothelial cell damage induced by oxidative stress. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) increased apoptosis of endothelial cells through JNK activation, whereas Ang1 inhibited H2O2-induced apoptosis and concomitant JNK phosphorylation. The inhibition of H2O2-induced JNK phosphorylation was reversed by inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase and dominant-negative Akt, and constitutively active-Akt attenuated JNK phosphorylation without Ang1. These data suggested that Ang1-dependent Akt phosphorylation through PI 3-kinase leads to the inhibition of JNK phosphorylation. H2O2-induced phosphorylation of SAPK/Erk kinase (SEK1) at Thr261, which is an upstream regulator of JNK, was also attenuated by Ang1-dependent activation of the PI 3-kinase/Akt pathway. In addition, Ang1 induced SEK1 phosphorylation at Ser80, suggesting the existence of an additional signal transduction pathway through which Ang1 attenuates JNK phosphorylation. These results demonstrated that Ang1 attenuates H2O2-induced SEK1/JNK phosphorylation through the PI 3-kinase/Akt pathway and inhibits the apoptosis of endothelial cells to oxidative stress.
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin Kawaharacho Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
Tomoaki
T
Murakami
Hitoshi
H
Takagi
Kiyoshi
K
Suzuma
Izumi
I
Suzuma
Hirokazu
H
Ohashi
Daisuke
D
Watanabe
Tomonari
T
Ojima
Eri
E
Suganami
Masafumi
M
Kurimoto
Hideaki
H
Kaneto
Yoshihito
Y
Honda
Nagahisa
N
Yoshimura
D042683:Angiopoietin-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D048055:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 8 / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000502:physiology*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000502:physiology*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D013552:Swine
D042683:Angiopoietin-1; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048055:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 8; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; C494918:AKT1 protein, human