Endothelial C-Type Natriuretic Peptide Acts on Pericytes to Regulate Microcirculatory Flow and Blood Pressure.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral vascular resistance has a major impact on arterial blood pressure levels. Endothelial C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) participates in the local regulation of vascular tone, but the target cells remain controversial. The cGMP-producing guanylyl cyclase-B (GC-B) receptor for CNP is expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs). However, whereas endothelial cell-specific CNP knockout mice are hypertensive, mice with deletion of GC-B in vascular SMCs have unaltered blood pressure. METHODS: We analyzed whether the vasodilating response to CNP changes along the vascular tree, ie, whether the GC-B receptor is expressed in microvascular types of cells. Mice with a floxed GC-B ( Npr2) gene were interbred with Tie2-Cre or PDGF-Rß-Cre ERT2 lines to develop mice lacking GC-B in endothelial cells or in precapillary arteriolar SMCs and capillary pericytes. Intravital microscopy, invasive and noninvasive hemodynamics, fluorescence energy transfer studies of pericyte cAMP levels in situ, and renal physiology were combined to dissect whether and how CNP/GC-B/cGMP signaling modulates microcirculatory tone and blood pressure. RESULTS: Intravital microscopy studies revealed that the vasodilatatory effect of CNP increases toward small-diameter arterioles and capillaries. CNP consistently did not prevent endothelin-1-induced acute constrictions of proximal arterioles, but fully reversed endothelin effects in precapillary arterioles and capillaries. Here, the GC-B receptor is expressed both in endothelial and mural cells, ie, in pericytes. It is notable that the vasodilatatory effects of CNP were preserved in mice with endothelial GC-B deletion, but abolished in mice lacking GC-B in microcirculatory SMCs and pericytes. CNP, via GC-B/cGMP signaling, modulates 2 signaling cascades in pericytes: it activates cGMP-dependent protein kinase I to phosphorylate downstream targets such as the cytoskeleton-associated vasodilator-activated phosphoprotein, and it inhibits phosphodiesterase 3A, thereby enhancing pericyte cAMP levels. These pathways ultimately prevent endothelin-induced increases of pericyte calcium levels and pericyte contraction. Mice with deletion of GC-B in microcirculatory SMCs and pericytes have elevated peripheral resistance and chronic arterial hypertension without a change in renal function. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies indicate that endothelial CNP regulates distal arteriolar and capillary blood flow. CNP-induced GC-B/cGMP signaling in microvascular SMCs and pericytes is essential for the maintenance of normal microvascular resistance and blood pressure.

Urodilatin reverses the detrimental influence of bradykinin in acute ischemic stroke.

Occlusion of cerebral arteries leads to ischemic stroke accompanied by subsequent brain edema. Bradykinin (BK) is involved in the formation of cerebral edema, and natriuretic peptides (NPs) potentially have beneficial effects on brain edema formation via a still unknown mechanism. The aim of this study was clarifying the mechanisms of action of NPs on BK signaling, and their interactive effects after ischemic brain injury. We used a mouse model for stroke, the middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion. Brain lesion and edema were measured by microcomputerized tomography volumetric measurements. To determine the effects of NPs on the BK signaling pathway in the MCAs we measured changes in vessel diameter and membrane potentials in endothelial cells. To determine the effects of NPs on BK signaling pathway in isolated astrocytes and neurons, membrane potentials and intercellular Ca2+ concentrations were measured. Urodilatin inhibited and when applied together with BK, reduced the formation of the ischemic lesion via activation of G-Protein-Signaling Protein Type 4 at the cellular (atrocities, neurons) and blood vessel (endothelial cells and isolated MCA) level as well as in in vivo experiments. The results of this study show the existence of a natural antagonist of BK in the brain, and the possible use of NPs in the treatment of stroke.

Endothelial Actions of ANP Enhance Myocardial Inflammatory Infiltration in the Early Phase After Acute Infarction.

RATIONALE: In patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the initial extent of necrosis and inflammation determine clinical outcome. One early event in AMI is the increased cardiac expression of atrial natriuretic peptide (NP) and B-type NP, with their plasma levels correlating with severity of ischemia. It was shown that NPs, via their cGMP-forming guanylyl cyclase-A (GC-A) receptor and cGMP-dependent kinase I (cGKI), strengthen systemic endothelial barrier properties in acute inflammation. OBJECTIVE: We studied whether endothelial actions of local NPs modulate myocardial injury and early inflammation after AMI. METHODS AND RESULTS: Necrosis and inflammation after experimental AMI were compared between control mice and littermates with endothelial-restricted inactivation of GC-A (knockout mice with endothelial GC-A deletion) or cGKI (knockout mice with endothelial cGKI deletion). Unexpectedly, myocardial infarct size and neutrophil infiltration/activity 2 days after AMI were attenuated in knockout mice with endothelial GC-A deletion and unaltered in knockout mice with endothelial cGKI deletion. Molecular studies revealed that hypoxia and tumor necrosis factor-α, conditions accompanying AMI, reduce the endothelial expression of cGKI and enhance cGMP-stimulated phosphodiesterase 2A (PDE2A) levels. Real-time cAMP measurements in endothelial microdomains using a novel fluorescence resonance energy transfer biosensor revealed that PDE2 mediates NP/cGMP-driven decreases of submembrane cAMP levels. Finally, intravital microscopy studies of the mouse cremaster microcirculation showed that tumor necrosis factor-α-induced endothelial NP/GC-A/cGMP/PDE2 signaling impairs endothelial barrier functions. CONCLUSIONS: Hypoxia and cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α, modify the endothelial postreceptor signaling pathways of NPs, with downregulation of cGKI, induction of PDE2A, and altered cGMP/cAMP cross talk. Increased expression of PDE2 can mediate hyperpermeability effects of paracrine endothelial NP/GC-A/cGMP signaling and facilitate neutrophil extravasation during the early phase after MI.

Involvement of bradykinin in brain edema development after ischemic stroke.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the Western world. Ischemic stroke is characterized by a rapid loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to a part of the brain. Due to fixed intracranial space, any increase in intracranial fluid volume, or progressive brain edema formation, contributes to further deterioration of the already impaired brain function. Bradykinin increases blood-brain barrier permeability and raises intracranial capillary blood pressure by arterial dilatation and venous constriction leading to brain edema formation. The aim of this paper is to summarize the recent research in the field of bradykinin function (structure, synthesis, signaling pathways, mechanism of action) followed by characterization of different types of brain edema development related to ischemic brain injury, together with the involvement of bradykinin in edema formation. Since there is currently no causal treatment addressing brain edema after ischemic stroke, specific bradykinin receptor antagonists are proposed as a possible new therapeutic approach.