Rac and PI3 kinase mediate endothelial cell-reactive oxygen species generation during normoxic lung ischemia

Abrupt reduction of flow (ischemia) leads to endothelial cell membrane depolarization, NADPH oxidase activation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in isolated rat and mouse lungs and in flow-adapted endothelial cells in vitro. Here we evaluated the role of PI-3-kinase and rac in activation of endothelial NADPH oxidase. Endothelium of isolated perfused mouse lungs labeled with 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein (H(2)DCF) or hydroethidine (HE) showed increased ROS generation with ischemia; these results were supported by TBARS measurement in whole-lung homogenate and by in vitro studies using flow-adapted mouse pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells. Ischemia-induced ROS generation in intact lung or isolated cells was blocked by pretreatment with Clostridium difficile toxin B, a rac inhibitor, and by wortmannin or LY294002, PI3 kinase inhibitors. In cells, immunofluorescence and immunoblot after subcellular fractionation showed ischemia-induced translocation of rac, p47(phox), and p67(phox) to the plasma membrane. Increased extracellular K(+) also resulted in rac translocation, providing evidence that this pathway is sensitive to alterations of endothelial cell membrane potential. These results indicate that PI-3-kinase and the small G protein rac are involved in the activation of endothelial cell NADPH oxidase that is associated with the acute loss of shear stress.