TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR ALPHA DECREASES NOS3 EXPRESSION PRIMARILY VIA RHO/RHO KINASE IN THE THICK ASCENDING LIMB

摘要

Inappropriate Na⁺ reabsorption by thick ascending limbs (THALs) induces hypertension. Nitric oxide (NO) produced by NO synthase type 3 (NOS3 or eNOS) inhibits NaCl reabsorption by THALs. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) decreases NOS3 expression in endothelial cells and contributes to increases in blood pressure. However, the effects of TNF-α on THAL NOS3 and the signaling cascade are unknown. TNF-α activates several signaling pathways including Rho/Rho kinase (ROCK) which is known to reduce NOS3 expression in endothelial cells. Therefore, we hypothesized that TNF-α decreases NOS3 expression via Rho/ROCK in rat THAL primary cultures. THAL cells were incubated with either vehicle or 1 nmol/L TNF-α for 24 hrs and NOS3 expression was measured by Western blot. TNF-α decreased NOS3 expression by 51±6% (p<0.002) and blunted stimulus-induced NO production. A 10-minutes treatment with TNF-α stimulated RhoA activity by 60±23% (p<0.04). Inhibition of Rho GTPase with 0.05 μg/mL C3 exoenzyme blocked TNF-α-induced reductions in NOS3 expression by 30±8% (p<0.02). Inhibition of ROCK with 10 μmol/L H-1152 blocked TNF-α-induced decreases in NOS3 expression by 66±15 % (p<0.001). Simultaneous inhibition of Rho and ROCK had no additive effect. Myosin light chain kinase, NO, protein kinase C, mitogen-activated kinase kinase, c-Jun amino terminal kinases and Rac-1 were also not involved in TNF-α-induced decreases in NOS3 expression. We conclude that TNF-α decreases NOS3 expression primarily via Rho/ROCK in rat THALs. These data suggest that some of the beneficial effects of ROCK inhibitors in hypertension could be due to the mitigation of TNF-α-induced reduction in NOS3 expression.