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Published on: February 10, 2015
Endothelial cell-specific liver kinase B1 deletion causes endothelial dysfunction and hypertension in mice in vivo
Wencheng Zhang1, Qilong Wang, Yue Wu
1Section of Molecular Medicine, Department of Medicine (W.Z., Q.W., Y.W., C.M., Z.L., X.D., Q.W., M.-H.Z.) and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Z.L., M.-H.Z.), University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City; Department of Cardiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, China (Y.W., W.L., Z.-Y.Y., M.-H.Z.); and Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education and Chinese Ministry of Public Health, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China (M.-H.Z.).
Background:
Liver kinase B1 (LKB1), a tumor suppressor, is a central regulator of cell polarity and energy homeostasis. The role of LKB1 in endothelial function in vivo has not been explored.
Methods And Results:
Endothelium-specific LKB1 knockout (LKB1(endo-/-)) mice were generated by cross-breeding LKB1(flox/flox) mice with VE-Cadherin-Cre mice. LKB1(endo-/-) mice exhibited hypertension, cardiac hypertrophy, and impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation. LKB1(endo-/-) endothelial cells exhibited reduced endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity and AMP kinase (a downstream enzyme of LKB1) phosphorylation at Thr172 compared with wild-type (WT) cells. In addition, the levels of caveolin-1 were higher in the endothelial cells of LKB1(endo-/-) mice, and knockdown of caveolin-1 by siRNA normalized endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity. Human antigen R bound with the adenylate-uridylate-rich elements of caveolin-1 mRNA 3' untranslated region, resulting in the increased stability of caveolin-1, and genetic knockdown of human antigen R decreased the expression of caveolin-1 in LKB1-deficient endothelial cells. Finally, adenoviral overexpression of constitutively active AMP kinase, but not green fluorescent protein, decreased caveolin-1, lowered blood pressure, and improved endothelial function in LKB1(endo-/-) mice in vivo.
Conclusions:
Our findings indicate that endothelial LKB1 regulates endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity, endothelial function, and blood pressure by modulating AMP kinase-mediated caveolin-1 expression.
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