Role of local production of endothelium-derived nitric oxide on cGMP signaling and S-nitrosylation.

摘要

Nitric oxide (NO), synthesized by endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), exerts control over vascular function via two distinct mechanisms, the activation of soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC)/cGMP-dependent signaling or through S-nitrosylation of proteins with reactive thiols (S-nitrosylation). Previous studies in cultured endothelial cells revealed that eNOS targeted to the plasma membrane (PM) releases greater amounts of NO compared with Golgi tethered eNOS. However, the significance of eNOS localization to sGC-dependent or -independent signaling is not known. Here we show that PM-targeted eNOS, when expressed in human aortic endothelial cells (HAEC) and isolated blood vessels, increases sGC/cGMP signaling to a greater extent than Golgi-localized eNOS. The ability of local NO production to influence sGC-independent mechanisms was also tested by monitoring the secretion of Von Willebrand factor (vWF), which is tonically inhibited by the S-nitrosylation of N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor (NSF). In eNOS "knockdown