Mitochondrial E3 Ubiquitin Protein Ligase 1 Mediates Cigarette Smoke-Induced Endothelial Cell Death and Dysfunction

By virtue of the critical roles of Akt in vascular endothelial cell (EC) survival and function, cigarette smoke-induced Akt reduction may contribute to EC death and dysfunction in smokers' lungs. One of the negative Akt regulatory mechanisms is K48-linked Akt ubiquitination and subsequent proteasomal degradation. Here, we assessed the involvement of mitochondrial E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 1 (MUL1), recently revealed as a novel Akt ubiquitin E3 ligase, in cigarette smoke-induced Akt ubiquitination and its contribution to pulmonary EC death and dysfunction. In human lung microvascular ECs (HLMVECs), cigarette smoke extract (CSE) noticeably elevated MUL1 expression and K48-linked Akt ubiquitination, whereas Akt, p-Akt, eNOS, and p-eNOS levels were decreased. MUL1 knockdown suppressed CSE-induced Akt ubiquitination/degradation and cytoplasmic reductions of Akt and p-Akt. Furthermore, MUL1 knockdown attenuated reductions of eNOS and p-eNOS and alleviated EC survival, migration, and tube formation in the presence of CSE exposure. In addition, overexpression of K284R Akt, a mutant for a MUL1-ubiquitination site, produced similar effects. In HLMVECs exposed to CSE, Akt-MUL1 interaction was increased in coimmunoprecipitation and in situ proximity ligation assays. Similarly, the proximity ligation assay signals were elevated in rat lungs exposed to cigarette smoke for 3 months, during which Mul1 levels were noticeably increased. Finally, we found that CSE-mediated MUL1 induction in HLMVECs is mediated by retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor α. Taken together, these data suggest that cigarette smoke-induced MUL1 elevation mediates Akt ubiquitination/degradation, potentially leading to pulmonary EC death and functional impairment.