Summary： Endothelial dysfunction induced by intermittent hypoxia （IH） participates in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome （OSAS）-associated cardiovascular disorders. Myeloid differentiation primary response 88 （MyD88） and tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 （TRAF6） regulate nu- merous downstream adaptors like mitogen-activated protein kinases （MAPKs） and the subsequent oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. This study aimed to characterize the role of MyD88/TRAF6 in IH-treated cell function and its associated signaling. Human umbilical vein endo- thelial cells （HUVECs） were randomly exposed to IH or normoxia for 0, 2, 4 and 6 h. Western blot- ting was used to detect the expression pattern of target gene proteins [angiotensin 1 receptor （AT1R）, p-ERK1/2, p-p38MAPK, MyD88 and TRAF6], and the relationships among these target genes down-regulated by the corresponding inhibitors were studied. Finally, the influence of these target genes on proliferation of HUVECs was also assessed by EdU analysis. Protein levels of AT1R, TRAF6 and p-ERK1/2 were increased after IH exposure, with a slight rise in MyD88 and a dynamic change in p-p38MAPK. The down-regulation of TRAF6 by siRNA reduced ERK1/2 phosphorylation during IH without any effects on ATIR. Blockade of AT1R with valsartan decreased TRAF6 and p-ERK1/2 protein expression after IH exposure. ERK1/2 inhibition with PD98059 suppressed only AT1R expression. IH promoted HUVECs proliferation, which was significantly suppressed by the in- hibition of TRAF6, AT1R and ERK1/2. The findings demonstrate that TRAF6 regulates the prolifera- tion of HUVECs exposed to short-term IH by modulating cell signaling involving ERK1/2 down- stream of AT1R. Targeting the AT1R-TRAF6-p-ERK1/2 signaling pathway might be helpful in re- storing endothelial function.
The effects of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate （NADPH） oxidase inhibitor apocynin on the enhanced hypoxia induced factor-let （HIF-lct） and endothelin-1 （ET-1） expression, elevated systolic blood pressure under chronic intermittent hypoxia （CIH） condition and its action mechanism were investigated. Thirty healthy 8-week old Sprague-Dawley （SD） male rats were randomly divided into three groups （n=10 each）： sham group, CIH group, and apocynin-treated CIH group. Tail artery systolic blood pressure was measured by tail-cuff method. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （PCR） was used to detect the mRNA expression of HIF-lu and ET-1 in the carotid body, and the HIF-1a protein expression was examined by using Western blotting. The levels of malondialdehyde （MDA） and superoxide dismutase （SOD） were determined by using colorimetric method. In addition, the plasma ET-1 and HIF-1a levels were measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. It was found that CIH exposure was associated with increased MDA levels, and apo- cynin-treated CIH animals showed reduction in MDA levels. Apocynin treatment prevented CIH-induced hypertension as well as CIH-induced decrease in SOD. The increases of HIF-1a and ET-1 mRNA along with HIF-la protein expression in the carotid body, and elevated circulating HIF-1a and ET-1 levels were observed in CIH-exposed animals. Treatment with apocynin significantly decreased the ET-1 mRNA, HIF-lct protein expression and circulating HIF-la level in CIH-exposed animals, and there was no statistically significant difference in the HIF-lu mRNA expression between CIH group and apo- cynin-treated group. These results indicated that apocynin alleviated CIH-induced hypertension by inhibiting NADPH oxidase, further leading to the reduced vasoconstrictor ET-1 level and oxidative stress. HIF-1a/ET-1 system signal pathway may interact with CIH-induced NADPH oxidase-dependent oxidative stress. Inhibition of NADPH oxidase activity may hopef
Background：The mechanism of the neural injury caused by chronic intermittent hypoxia （CIH） that characterizes obstructive sleep apnea syndrome （OSAS） is not clearly known.The purpose of this study was to investigate whether P2X7 receptor （P2X7R） is responsible for the CIH-induced neural injury and the possible pathway it involves.Methods：Eight-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were used.For each exposure time point,eight mice divided in room air （RA） and IH group were assigned to the study of P2X7R expression.Whereas in the 21 days-Brilliant Blue G （BBG,a selective P2X7R antagonist） study,48 mice were randomly divided into CIH group,BBG-treated CIH group,RA group and BBG-treated RA group.The hippocampus P2X7R expression was determined by Western blotting and real-time polymerase chain reaction （PCR）.The spatial learning was analyzed by Morris water maze.The nuclear factor kappa B （NFκB） and NADPH oxidase 2 （NOX2） expressions were analyzed by Westem blotting.The expressions of tumor necrosis factor α,interleukin 1 β （IL-β）,IL-18,and IL-6 were measured by real-time PCR.The malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase levels were detected by colorimetric method.Cell damage was evaluated by Hematoxylin and Eosin staining and Terminal Transferase dUTP Nick-end Labeling method.Results：The P2X7R mRNA was elevated and sustained after 3-day IH exposure and the P2X7R protein was elevated and sustained after 7-day IH exposure.In the BBG study,the CIH mice showed severer neuronal cell damage and poorer performance in the behavior test.The increased NFκB and NOX2 expressions along with the inflammation injury and oxidative stress were also observed in the CIH group.BBG alleviated CIH-induced neural injury and consequent functional deficits.Conclusions：The P2X7R antagonism attenuates the CIH-induced neuroinflammation,oxidative stress,and spatial deficits,demonstrating that the P2X7R is an important therapeutic target in the cognition deficits accompanied OSAS.
Yan Deng Xue-Ling Guo Xiao Yuan Jin Shang Die Zhu Hui-Guo Liu
Background Obstructive sleep apnea （OSA） has been recognized as an independent risk factor for systemic hypertension. The study investigated the functional consequences of chronic intermittent hypoxia （CIH） on aortic constriction induced by angiotensin II （Ang II） and the possible signaling involving ERK1/2 and contractile proteins such as myosin light chain kinase （MLCK）, myosin phosphatase targeting subunit （MYPT1） and myosin light chain （MLC）. Methods Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into CIH group and normoxia group and exposed to either CIH procedure or air-air cycles. Phosphorylation of ERK1/2, MYPT1 and MLC was assessed by Western blotting following constrictor studies in the presence or absence of PD98059 （10 μmol/L）. Results CIH-exposure resulted in more body weight gain and elevated blood pressure, which could be attenuated by pretreatment with PD98059. Endothelium-removed aortic rings from CIH rats exhibited higher constrictor sensitivity to Ang II （Emax： （138.56±5.78）% versus （98.45±5.31）% of KCI; pD2：7.98±0.14 versus 8.14±0.05, respectively）. CIH procedure exerted complex effects on ERK expressions （total ERK1/2 decreased whereas the ratio of phosphorylated to total ERK1/2 increased）. CIH aortas had higher MLCK mRNA and basal phosphorylation of MYPT1 and MLC. In parallel to greater increases in phosphorylation of ERK1/2, MYPT1 and MLC, Ang II-induced aortic constriction was significantly enhanced in CIH rats, which was largely reversed by PD98059. However vascular constriction of normoxia rats remained unchanged despite similar but smaller changing tendency of proteins phosphorylation. Conclusion These data suggest that CIH exposure results in aortic hyperresponsiveness to Ang II, presumably owing to more activated ERK1/2 signaling pathway.
GUO Xue-ling DENG Yan SHANG Jin LIU Kui XUYong-jian LIU Hui-guo
Background Obstructive sleep apnea is a frequent medical condition consisting of repetitive sleep-related episodes of upper air ways obstruction and can lead to hypertension. Ang II type 1 receptor （AT1R） played important roles in hypertension since it binds with Ang II, controlling salt-water and blood pressure homeostasis. This study explores rat aorta AT1R expression during intermittent hypoxia （IH） and the signaling pathways involved. Methods A rat model and a cell model used a BioSpherix-OxyCycler A84 system and a ProOx C21 system respectively. The arterial blood pressure was recorded by a Nihon Kohden Polygraph System. Immunohistochemic was used to focus and analyze the expression of AT1R in rat aorta. Real-time PCR and Western blotting were used to explore the signaling pathways that participated in AT1R expression. Results In this study, we found that chronic intermittent hypoxia （CIH） induced AT1R transcription which increased the blood pressure in rat aorta compared to normoxia and to sustained hypoxia. The AT1R protein expression in the aorta was similar to the real-time PCR results. We explored the signaling mechanisms involved in the AT1R induction in both rat aorta and the aortic endothelial cells by real-time PCR and Western blotting. Compared to normoxia, CIH increased ERK1 mRNA transcription but not ERK2 or p38MAPK in the aorta; whereas sustained hypoxia （SH） upregulated ERK2 but not ERK1 or p38MAPK mRNA. In cells, IH induced AT1R expression with ERK1/2 phosphorylation but reduced p38MAPKs phosphorylation, whereas SH induced only ERK1/2 phosphorylation. The ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 attenuated the IH- induced AT1R increase but the p38MAPK inhibitor SB203580 did not. Conclusions Our results indicate that CIH induced the elevation of rat blood pressure and aorta AT1R expression. Moreover, ATIR expression in IH and sustained hypoxia might be regulated by different signal transduction pathways, highlighting a novel regulatory function through ERK1/2 signaling in IH.
