{"title":"Afadin Promotes Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Contraction by Interacting With Phospholipase C to Enhance Ca<sup>2+</sup> Signaling for Blood Pressure Regulation.","authors":"Md Mahbubur Rahman Khan, Akira Sato, Akio Shimizu, Shunji Suetaka, Md Rasel Molla, Masahiro Komeno, Mst Zenika Nasrin, Masanari Nishida, Futoshi Toyoda, Munehito Arai, Hisakazu Ogita","doi":"10.1161/ATVBAHA.125.322619","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) regulate vascular tone and blood pressure. Stimulation of VSMCs with vasoconstrictors, such as AngII (angiotensin II) or norepinephrine, activates the G-protein-coupled receptor-mediated cascade, leading to a hypercontractile state and vascular remodeling. Afadin, an intracellular adaptor protein that mainly localizes at cell-cell junctions, regulates various biological phenomena. However, its role in VSMCs remains unclear.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>VSMCs were isolated from newly generated VSMC-specific afadin conditional knockout mice. A small peptide (7 amino acids) designed in silico to inhibit the afadin-PLC (phospholipase C) β association was administered to the mouse VSMCs and aortic media using adeno-associated virus.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Unlike control mice, afadin conditional knockout mice did not exhibit AngII- or norepinephrine-induced elevation in blood pressure. VSMCs isolated from afadin conditional knockout mice were less responsive to AngII- or norepinephrine-induced cell contractility compared with control VSMCs, as evidenced by reduced release of intracellular Ca<sup>2+</sup> resulting from lowered production of AngII- or norepinephrine-induced inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate. Mechanistically, the PDZ (disk large tumor suppressor, zonula occludens-1) domain of afadin was shown to associate with the C terminus of PLCβ, providing support for the localization of PLCβ on the plasma membrane, where it generates inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate. Furthermore, the newly designed small peptide, which inhibited the afadin-PLCβ association, attenuated AngII-induced cell contractility and intracellular Ca<sup>2+</sup> release in vitro and blocked AngII-stimulated blood pressure elevation in vivo.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Afadin expression in VSMCs promotes cell contraction by interacting with PLCβ to enhance Ca<sup>2+</sup> signaling and has potential as a novel molecular target for blood pressure regulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":8401,"journal":{"name":"Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1226-1243"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.125.322619","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/5/29 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HEMATOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) regulate vascular tone and blood pressure. Stimulation of VSMCs with vasoconstrictors, such as AngII (angiotensin II) or norepinephrine, activates the G-protein-coupled receptor-mediated cascade, leading to a hypercontractile state and vascular remodeling. Afadin, an intracellular adaptor protein that mainly localizes at cell-cell junctions, regulates various biological phenomena. However, its role in VSMCs remains unclear.
Methods: VSMCs were isolated from newly generated VSMC-specific afadin conditional knockout mice. A small peptide (7 amino acids) designed in silico to inhibit the afadin-PLC (phospholipase C) β association was administered to the mouse VSMCs and aortic media using adeno-associated virus.
Results: Unlike control mice, afadin conditional knockout mice did not exhibit AngII- or norepinephrine-induced elevation in blood pressure. VSMCs isolated from afadin conditional knockout mice were less responsive to AngII- or norepinephrine-induced cell contractility compared with control VSMCs, as evidenced by reduced release of intracellular Ca2+ resulting from lowered production of AngII- or norepinephrine-induced inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate. Mechanistically, the PDZ (disk large tumor suppressor, zonula occludens-1) domain of afadin was shown to associate with the C terminus of PLCβ, providing support for the localization of PLCβ on the plasma membrane, where it generates inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate. Furthermore, the newly designed small peptide, which inhibited the afadin-PLCβ association, attenuated AngII-induced cell contractility and intracellular Ca2+ release in vitro and blocked AngII-stimulated blood pressure elevation in vivo.
Conclusions: Afadin expression in VSMCs promotes cell contraction by interacting with PLCβ to enhance Ca2+ signaling and has potential as a novel molecular target for blood pressure regulation.
背景:血管平滑肌细胞(VSMCs)调节血管张力和血压。血管收缩剂如AngII(血管紧张素II)或去甲肾上腺素刺激VSMCs,激活g蛋白偶联受体介导的级联反应,导致过度收缩状态和血管重构。Afadin是一种主要定位于细胞-细胞连接处的细胞内适配蛋白,调节多种生物现象。然而,其在vsmc中的作用尚不清楚。方法:从新生的vsmc特异性afadin条件敲除小鼠中分离vsmc。采用腺相关病毒对小鼠VSMCs和主动脉介质进行抑制磷脂酶- plc (phospholipase C) β结合的小肽(7个氨基酸)。结果:与对照组小鼠不同,afadin条件敲除小鼠没有表现出AngII或去甲肾上腺素诱导的血压升高。与对照VSMCs相比,从afadin条件敲除小鼠中分离的VSMCs对AngII-或去甲肾上腺素诱导的细胞收缩性的反应较弱,这可以通过降低AngII-或去甲肾上腺素诱导的肌醇1,4,5-三磷酸的产生导致细胞内Ca2+的释放减少来证明。在机制上,afadin的PDZ结构域被证明与PLCβ的C端结合,为PLCβ在质膜上的定位提供支持,在质膜上它产生肌醇1,4,5-三磷酸。此外,新设计的小肽抑制了afadin-PLCβ的结合,在体外降低了血管内皮素诱导的细胞收缩性和细胞内Ca2+释放,并在体内阻断了血管内皮素刺激的血压升高。结论:VSMCs中Afadin的表达通过与PLCβ相互作用增强Ca2+信号,促进细胞收缩,可能成为血压调节的新分子靶点。
期刊介绍:
The journal "Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology" (ATVB) is a scientific publication that focuses on the fields of vascular biology, atherosclerosis, and thrombosis. It is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes original research articles, reviews, and other scholarly content related to these areas. The journal is published by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Stroke Association (ASA).
The journal was published bi-monthly until January 1992, after which it transitioned to a monthly publication schedule. The journal is aimed at a professional audience, including academic cardiologists, vascular biologists, physiologists, pharmacologists and hematologists.