|
|
||||||||
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
Accepted for publication August 21, 2007.
* Address correspondence to Dr Zhang, Department of Cardiac Surgery, Linyi Peoples Hospital, Linyi 276003, Shandong Province, China (Email: zfwei{at}126.com).
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Methods: Adenoviral vector encoding the eNOS gene was intratracheally transfected into the lung of rabbits with flow-induced pulmonary hypertension. Rabbits instilled intratracheally with adenoviral vector without encoding the eNOS gene served as a control group. Hemodynamic data were recorded before and after transfection, and transgene expression was investigated.
Results: Pulmonary hypertension was significantly attenuated in eNOS gene–transfected rabbits compared with control animals (mean pulmonary arterial pressure, 22.3 ± 5.5 versus 41.0 ± 6.9 mm Hg; pulmonary vascular resistance, 326 ± 42 versus 618 ± 66 dynes · s · cm–5; p < 0.01). Systemic arterial pressure and systemic vascular resistance were unaffected. There was an increase in calcium-dependent conversion of L-arginine to L-citrulline in the lung (16.81 ± 0.72 versus 4.11 ± 0.41 pmol · mg protein–1 · h–1) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate levels (0.138 ± 0.015 versus 0.065 ± 0.003 pmol/mg protein). Immunohistochemical staining showed expression of the eNOS gene was detected mainly in endothelial cells of small pulmonary vessels. Transgene expression was confirmed using Western blot analysis.
Conclusions: These data suggest that intratracheal adenoviral-mediated eNOS gene transfer can attenuate flow-induced pulmonary hypertension in rabbits and may represent a new form of therapy for the treatment of flow-induced pulmonary hypertension.
| Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Nitric oxide synthesized by endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) is a potent vasodilator and is considered to play an important role in regulating pulmonary vascular tone. Gene transfer of eNOS for cardiovascular diseases is an attractive new approach and may produce prolonged attenuation of PH. Previous studies showed rat smooth muscle cells transfected with eNOS under the control of the cytomegalovirus (CMV) enhancer–promoter could treat rats with monocrotaline-induced PH [1]. Adenoviral transfer of the eNOS gene to the lung of the mouse and rat reduced hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction [2, 3]. It is possible therefore that transfer of the eNOS gene to the lung may correct PH secondary to increased pulmonary blood flow.
The present study was undertaken to investigate whether intratracheal adenoviral gene transfer of eNOS ameliorates PH induced by arteriovenous shunt.
| Material and Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Animals
Forty male New Zealand white rabbits weighing 2.0 to 2.8 kg were used in this study. Animal care and procedures were in accordance with the guidelines specified by the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and were approved by the Animal Experimental Center of Shandong University. Rabbits underwent a right common carotid artery anastomosis to the external jugular vein, followed by proximal external jugular vein ligation. An arteriovenous shunt was created to mimic the chronically increased pulmonary artery flow state of a congenital heart defect [5]. The pressure change of the pulmonary artery was recorded before the shunt operation and 3 months after the shunt operation. Twelve rabbits died during the 3-month interval after shunt surgery, yielding a survival rate of 70%. A shunt patency rate of 78.5% was seen in 22 rabbits. The criteria of PH were met in 18 rabbits with mean pulmonary arterial pressure of 39.9 ± 8.7 mm Hg. These rabbits were randomly assigned to receive intratracheal instillation of either the AdCMVeNOS (n = 9) or AdCMV-Null (n = 9). The rabbits were anesthetized with pentobarbital (30 mg/kg intravenously), intubated with an endotracheal tube (internal diameter, 3.5 mm), and mechanically ventilated (Harvard KTR-4, NatureGene Corp, Medford, NJ). A small silicone elastomer catheter was introduced in the trachea distal to the endotracheal tube. Viral solution (1 mL containing 5 x 109 plaque-forming units of AdCMVeNOS or AdCMV-Null) was instilled into the trachea for 10 minutes.
Hemodynamic Measurements
Rabbits were anesthetized, intubated, and mechanically ventilated. Oxygen concentration was maintained at 40%. A femoral artery was cannulated (PE-10 tubing, outer diameter, 0.6 mm, inner diameter, 0.3 mm; Shinetech Instruments Co, Ltd, Taibei, Taiwan) for measurement of systemic arterial pressure. A designed single-lumen catheter (PE-10 tubing) was constructed with a curved tip to facilitate passage through the right heart. The catheter was passed through the right femoral vein and manipulated through the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery. Mean pulmonary arterial pressure and systolic pulmonary arterial pressure were measured simultaneously (RM 6000 physiological polygraph; Nihon Kohden Corp, Tokyo, Japan). Cardiac output was measured by impedance plethysmography (XL-200; Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Tianjin, China), and systemic and pulmonary vascular resistances were calculated.
Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Activity
Lung samples were homogenized in a solution of 250 mmol/L Tris · HCl (pH 7.4), 10 nmol/L EDTA, and 10 mmol/L ethylene glycol-bis(β-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N,N-tetraacetic acid (EGTA) and centrifuged at 13,800 Gal for 10 minutes at +4°C. The supernatant was incubated in a solution of 10 mmol/L reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate, 1 µCi/L (1 Ci = 37 GBq) L-[3H] arginine, 6 mmol/L CaCl2, 50 mmol/L Tris · HCl (pH 7.4), 6 µmol/L tetrahydrobiopterin, 2 µmol/L flavin adenine dinucleotide, and 2 µmol/L flavin mononucleotide for 60 minutes at 24°C. The reaction was stopped with stop buffer (2 mmol/L EGTA, 2 mmol/L EDTA, and 20 mmol/L Hepes buffer, pH 5.5). The radioactivity of the sample eluate was measured by liquid scintillation counting. Enzyme activity was expressed as citrulline production in picomoles per milligram of protein per hour.
Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate Levels
Four days after transfection, lungs tissue were quick-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at –70°C until cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) levels were measured. Whole lung tissue was homogenized and centrifuged for 5 minutes at 4°C, and the supernatant was transferred to a 10-mL test tube. The samples were assayed for cGMP by using a direct immunoassay kit (Biovision Inc, CA). Lung cGMP levels are expressed as picomoles per milligram of protein.
Immunohistochemistry
Rabbit lungs were fixed in phosphate-buffered 4% formalin. Sections were rehydrated and digested with proteinase K at room temperature, then washed with phosphate-buffered saline solution containing 2.7 mmol/L KCl, 1.2 mmol/L KH2PO4, 138 mmol/L NaCl, and 8.1 mmol/L Na2HPO4. Endogenous peroxidase activity was reduced by immersion in 3% hydrogen peroxide in methanol. After rinsing, sections were covered in 10% goat serum for 30 minutes and incubated with eNOS antibody (Jinmei Biotech Co, Shenzhen, China) for 60 minutes. The sections were rinsed with phosphate-buffered saline solution and incubated with secondary antibody for 30 minutes, then incubated in avidin-biotin complex for 30 minutes at room temperature. Diaminobenzidine and hydrogen peroxide were used for development. The slides were lightly counterstained with hematoxylin and then dehydrated sequentially.
Western Blotting
The lungs were removed and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen. To extract total protein, lungs were homogenized in ice-cold buffer with NaCl and incubated on ice for 30 minutes. After centrifugation twice at 4°C for 20 minutes, the supernatant was mixed with an equal volume of 2% sodium dodecyl sulfate and fractionated using 8% sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Proteins were then transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane by semidry electroblotting for 1 hour. The membranes were blocked in blocking reagent for 1 hour at room temperature and incubated with a primary monoclonal mouse anti-eNOS immunoglobin G antibody (Jinmei Biotech Co, Shenzhen, China). Bound antibody was detected with secondary antibody (Jinmei Biotech Co, Shenzhen, China) and visualized using enhanced chemiluminescence (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech Inc, Piscataway, NJ). Protein levels were quantified by scanning densitometry. Protein expression levels are given in arbitrary units.
Statistics
All results are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. The data were analyzed by using unpaired Students t tests. A probability value of less than 0.01 was used as the criterion for statistical significance.
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| Comment |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The importance of the NO signaling pathway in the pathophysiology of PH is well recognized [6]. It is well established that NO has pulmonary vasodilator activity, and inhaled NO is beneficial in some forms of PH, particularly in pediatric patients [7–10]. Study in patients with primary and secondary PH reported reduced eNOS expression in pulmonary vascular endothelium. The lungs of patients with PH were found to contain significantly reduced eNOS immunoreactivity and eNOS messenger RNA and showed a significant inverse correlation between the level of immunoreactivity and the severity of the pathologic alterations in the pulmonary vasculature [11]. This has initiated interest in therapeutic strategies aimed at increasing NO and cGMP signaling. Studies in the rat and mouse show that adenovirally mediated eNOS gene transfer increases lung cGMP levels, blunts the response to ventilatory hypoxia, and reduces pulmonary vascular resistance in bleomycin-induced PH [2, 3]. Adenovirally mediated transfer of the eNOS gene to the lung in large part corrects a genetic deficiency resulting from eNOS deletion, suggesting a useful therapeutic intervention for the treatment of pulmonary hypertensive disorders in which eNOS activity is reduced [12].
The mechanism of PH induced by high pulmonary blood flow is still unclear. Recent evidence suggests that eNOS gene expression was upregulated in the lungs of an animal model with flow-induced PH [13–16]. Increases in the expression of NO synthase do not necessarily imply increase in NO production, as the increased protein might have decreased enzyme activity [17]. Lam and colleagues [18] reported that the pulmonary artery of rats with flow-induced PH expressed higher levels of eNOS, although concentrations of cGMP were reduced. This indicated that despite increased expression of eNOS, biologic activity of NO is decreased because endothelial function is impaired [18, 19]. The present results show that eNOS activity and lung cGMP concentrations were significantly increased after eNOS gene transfer to the lung, indicating eNOS transgene is biologically active in the lung of the rabbits with flow-induced PH.
In conclusion, intratracheal transfer of eNOS gene to the lung decreases the elevated pulmonary vascular resistance without adverse effects on systemic hemodynamics in rabbits with flow-induced PH. The reduction of PH is associated with augmented pulmonary eNOS synthesis and elevated eNOS activity and lung cGMP levels. Despite these results, eNOS gene therapy for PH remains a future possibility rather than a clinical reality; however, the present study suggests that eNOS gene transfer represents a potential therapeutic approach to PH.
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Related Article
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
C. H. Selzman Invited Commentary Ann. Thorac. Surg., February 1, 2008; 85(2): 585 - 586. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| ANN THORAC SURG | ASIAN CARDIOVASC THORAC ANN | EUR J CARDIOTHORAC SURG |
| J THORAC CARDIOVASC SURG | ICVTS | ALL CTSNet JOURNALS |