Partial inhibition of Na+/K+-ATPase by ouabain induces the Ca2+-dependent expressions of early-response genes in cardiac myocytes.

Exposure of neonatal rat cardiac myocytes to ouabain concentrations that caused partial inhibition of Na+/K+-ATPase but no loss of viability, increased c-fos and c-jun mRNAs and the transcription factor AP-1. The increased mRNAs were proportional to the extent of inhibition of Na+/K+-ATPase and the resulting rise in steady state intracellular Ca2+ concentration. The rapid and sustained increase of c-fos mRNA was shown to be due to increased transcriptional rate. Induction of c-fos by ouabain was prevented when either extracellular or intracellular Ca2+ was lowered and was attenuated by pretreatment of myocytes with a phorbol ester under conditions known to down-regulate protein kinase C. Exposure to ouabain for 24-48 h also increased total transcriptional activity and protein content of myocytes. The findings suggest that the same signal responsible for the positive inotropic action of ouabain, i.e. net influx of Ca2+ caused by partial inhibition of Na+/K+-ATPase, also initiates the rapid protein kinase C-dependent inductions of the early-response genes, the subsequent regulations of other cardiac genes by the resulting transcription factors, and stimulation of myocyte growth. Whether these hitherto unrecognized effects of cardiac glycosides are obtained in the intact heart and their relevance to the therapeutic uses of these drugs remain to be determined.