Deoxyglucose and reduced glutathione mimic effects of hypoxia on K+ and Ca2+ conductances in pulmonary artery cells.

Hypoxia-induced pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) is triggered by a rise in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) that is partially controlled by voltage-gated Ca2+ channels. Hypoxia inhibits voltage-gated K+ (KV) channels in pulmonary artery (PA) myocytes. This depolarizes the cells, opens voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, thereby increases [Ca2+]i, and initiates HPV. In intact animals and isolated perfused lungs, metabolic inhibitors and reducing agents augment HPV. We compared the effects of hypoxia with the glycolysis inhibitor, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DOG), and the reducing agent, reduced glutathione (GSH), on voltage-gated steady-state K+ currents (IK,ss) and membrane potential (Em) in cultured rat pulmonary and mesenteric arterial (MA) smooth muscle cells. Bath application of 10 mM 2-DOG (glucose-free) or 5-10 mM GSH reversibly reduced IK,ss by 25-35% in PA myocytes, with 5 mM ATP present in the pipette solution. Neither hypoxia nor 2-DOG significantly affected IK,ss in MA myocytes, but GSH did reduce IK,ss in these cells. Furthermore, hypoxia, 2-DOG, and GSH depolarized PA cells in the absence as well as in the presence of external Ca2+. Hypoxia, 2-DOG, and GSH also evoked action potentials on the top of the steady depolarization in 36-50% of PA myocytes but not in any MA myocytes; removal of external Ca2+ abolished the action potentials without affecting the steady depolarization. These effects were comparable to those produced by 4-aminopyridine (5-10 mM), a blocker of KV channels. This implies that the action potentials are attributable to Ca2+ influx through voltage-gated Ca2+ channels opened by the steady depolarization due to KV channel inhibition. In the presence of 2-DOG or GSH, hypoxia had no further effect on IK,ss or Em in PA cells; this implies that hypoxia, 2-DOG, and GSH all block the same K+ channels. The data suggest that 1) the hypoxia-induced decrease of IK,ss and the resultant depolarization in PA myocytes may be related to a local decrease of intracellular ATP level and/or a change in redox status of the membrane or cytosol and 2) extracellular Ca(2+)-dependent action potentials may be responsible for at least part of the increase in [Ca2+]i during HPV. Similarities between the effects of hypoxia, 2-DOG, and GSH on IK,ss and Em in PA myocytes, along with the dissimilar responses of PA and MA myocytes, suggest that a common mechanism may underlie the responses of PA cells to these treatments.