Sugimoto Masayuki, Nakayama Masanori, Goto Takaaki M, Amano Mutsuki, Komori Kimihiro, Kaibuchi Kozo
Department of Vascular Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, 65 Tsurumai, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 466-8550, Japan.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2007 Sep 21;361(2):462-7. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2007.07.030. Epub 2007 Jul 18.
Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) produces nitric oxide (NO), which is involved in various physiological functions of the cardiovascular system. eNOS is activated by dephosphorylation at Thr495 and phosphorylation at Ser1177. Inhibition of Rho-kinase, an effector of the small GTPase RhoA, leads to activation of Akt/PKB, which phosphorylates eNOS at Ser1177 and thereby promotes NO production. However, little is known about the effects of Rho-kinase on phosphorylation of Thr495. We here found that the constitutively active form of Rho-kinase phosphorylated eNOS at Thr495 in vitro. Expression of the constitutively active form of RhoA or Rho-kinase increased this phosphorylation in COS-7 cells. Addition of thrombin to cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells induced phosphorylation of eNOS at Thr495. Treatment with Y27632, a Rho-kinase inhibitor, suppressed thrombin-induced phosphorylation at Thr495. These results indicate that Rho-kinase can directly phosphorylate eNOS at Thr495 to suppress NO production in endothelium.
内皮型一氧化氮合酶(eNOS)产生一氧化氮(NO),其参与心血管系统的多种生理功能。eNOS通过苏氨酸495(Thr495)的去磷酸化和丝氨酸1177(Ser1177)的磷酸化而被激活。小GTP酶RhoA的效应器Rho激酶的抑制导致Akt/PKB的激活,Akt/PKB使eNOS在Ser1177位点磷酸化,从而促进NO的产生。然而,关于Rho激酶对Thr495磷酸化的影响知之甚少。我们在此发现,Rho激酶的组成型活性形式在体外使eNOS的Thr495位点磷酸化。RhoA或Rho激酶的组成型活性形式的表达增加了COS-7细胞中的这种磷酸化。向培养的人脐静脉内皮细胞中添加凝血酶可诱导eNOS的Thr495位点磷酸化。用Rho激酶抑制剂Y27632处理可抑制凝血酶诱导的Thr495位点磷酸化。这些结果表明,Rho激酶可直接使eNOS的Thr495位点磷酸化,从而抑制内皮细胞中NO的产生。