Hydrogen peroxide-mediated inhibition of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated inhibitory kappa B kinase activity in rat aortic smooth muscle cells.

1. In rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMC), exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) resulted in NF-kappaB-DNA binding, degradation of IkappaB-alpha, -beta and -epsilon and increased activity of both alpha and beta isoforms of inhibitory kappa B kinase (IKK). 2. Expression of dominant-negative (DN)-IKK-alpha, IKK-beta and NF-kappaB-inducing kinase (NIK) abolished LPS-stimulated NF-kappaB reporter activity, suggesting that activation of a NIK/IKK-dependent pathway is indispensable for NF-kappaB activation by LPS in this cell type. 3. The tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, pervanadate, abolished LPS-stimulated NF-kappaB-DNA-binding activity. However, the effect of pervanadate was shown to be mediated by excess hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) present in the reaction mix. Preincubation of RASMC with H(2)O(2) inhibited LPS-stimulated IKK kinase activity and downstream NF-kappaB-DNA binding activity. 4. H(2)O(2) also strongly stimulated p38 MAP kinase activity in RASMCs. Effective inhibition of this pathway using SB203580 did not reverse the effects of H(2)O(2) on LPS-stimulated IKK/NF-kappaB signalling. 5. These studies show that hydrogen peroxide-mediated inhibition of LPS-stimulated NF-kappaB activation in RASMC occurs upstream of IKK. The inhibitory effect of H(2)O(2) is not due to tyrosine phosphatase inhibition, it is mediated by H(2)O(2) through a mechanism which is independent of any cross-talk involving MAP kinase homologues.