Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA.
J Biol Chem. 2012 Jun 1;287(23):19266-74. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M112.363382. Epub 2012 Apr 9.
The epithelial Na(+) channel (ENaC) is critical for Na(+) homeostasis and blood pressure control. Defects in its regulation cause inherited forms of hypertension and hypotension. Previous work found that ENaC gating is regulated by proteases through cleavage of the extracellular domains of the α and γ subunits. Here we tested the hypothesis that ENaC is regulated by proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), a protease that modulates the risk of cardiovascular disease. PCSK9 reduced ENaC current in Xenopus oocytes and in epithelia. This occurred through a decrease in ENaC protein at the cell surface and in the total cellular pool, an effect that did not require the catalytic activity of PCSK9. PCSK9 interacted with all three ENaC subunits and decreased their trafficking to the cell surface by increasing proteasomal degradation. In contrast to its previously reported effects on the LDL receptor, PCSK9 did not alter ENaC endocytosis or degradation of the pool of ENaC at the cell surface. These results support a role for PCSK9 in the regulation of ENaC trafficking in the biosynthetic pathway, likely by increasing endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation. By reducing ENaC channel number, PCSK9 could modulate epithelial Na(+) absorption, a major contributor to blood pressure control.
上皮钠离子通道(ENaC)对于钠离子平衡和血压控制至关重要。其调节的缺陷会导致遗传性高血压和低血压。先前的研究发现,ENaC 的门控受蛋白酶通过切割 α 和 γ 亚基的细胞外结构域来调节。在这里,我们检验了这样一个假设,即 ENaC 受到脯氨酸内切酶/枯草杆菌蛋白酶 Kexin 类型 9(PCSK9)的调节,PCSK9 是一种调节心血管疾病风险的蛋白酶。PCSK9 降低了非洲爪蟾卵母细胞和上皮细胞中的 ENaC 电流。这是通过减少细胞表面和总细胞池中的 ENaC 蛋白来实现的,这种作用不依赖于 PCSK9 的催化活性。PCSK9 与所有三种 ENaC 亚基相互作用,并通过增加蛋白酶体降解来减少它们向细胞表面的转运。与先前报道的其对 LDL 受体的作用相反,PCSK9 并未改变 ENaC 的内吞作用或细胞表面 ENaC 池的降解。这些结果支持了 PCSK9 在 ENaC 易位的调节中的作用,可能是通过增加内质网相关降解。通过减少 ENaC 通道数量,PCSK9 可以调节上皮钠离子吸收,这是血压控制的主要贡献因素。