Chronic hypoxia (CH) associated with various lung diseases leads to pulmonary hypertension. Adaptive responses, including enhanced nitric oxide (NO)-mediated vasodilation, may diminish the severity of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. However, neither the mechanism of altered NO-dependent reactivity following CH, nor the signaling pathways leading to NO-mediated pulmonary vasodilation are well understood. Protein kinase G (PKG) is a prominent target of NO signaling that elicits relaxation of vascular smooth muscle (VSM) by decreasing the concentration of intracellular free calcium ([Ca 2+]i)as well as desensitization of the contractile apparatus to Ca 2+ . This latter effect of PKG to cause Ca2+-desensitization is largely undefined, although studies have implicated a role for inactivation of the RhoA-Rho kinase-signaling cascade in this response. Interestingly, pilot experiments suggest that CH attenuates PKG-dependent decreases in VSM [Ca 2+]i while paradoxically augmenting PKG-mediated vasodilation. Therefore, the proposed studies will investigate the central hypothesis that CH impairs PKG-dependent regulation of [Ca2+]i in pulmonary VSM and mediates a compensatory shift in PKG signaling to promote desensitization of the contractile apparatus to [Ca 2+]. This hypothesis will be addressed by the following specific aims:
Specific Aim #1 : Establish the mechanism by which CH impairs PKG-dependent reduction of pulmonary VSM [Ca2+]i. The working hypothesis for this aim is that CH diminishes PKG-mediated decreases in VSM [Ca2+]i by interfering with regulation of Ca 2+ influx and sequestration mechanisms.
Specific Aim #2 : Identify the mechanism by which CH augments PKG-mediated pulmonary VSM Ca2+-desensitization. We hypothesize that enhanced PKG-mediated pulmonary vasodilation following CH is a function of VSM Ca2+-desensitization through inhibition of the RhoA-Rho kinase pathway. The proposed studies will employ an innovative approach to address mechanisms by which CH alters PKG-signaling in pulmonary VSM, including simultaneous measurement of vasoreactivity and VSM [Ca2+]i in isolated, pressurized small pulmonary arteries from control and CH rats. Findings from studies are expected to fundamentally advance our understanding of signal transduction mechanisms by which PKG regulates pulmonary vascular tone, as well as adaptive responses of the pulmonary circulation to CH.
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