ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In the vasculature, the angiotensin type 2 (AT2) receptor (AT2R) exerts antiproliferative, antifibrotic, and proapoptotic effects. Normal adult animals have low AT2R expression; however, vascular injury and exposure to proinflammatory cytokines augment AT2R levels. We hypothesized that AT2R expression increases during initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Atherosclerotic lesions of apolipoprotein (Apo) E(-/-) mice contained AT2Rs, measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction and confirmed by immunohistochemistry. To test the consequences of this expression, male ApoE(-/-), angiotensin II type 2 receptor-deficient (Agtr2-), and ApoE(-/-), wild-type (Agtr2+) mice consumed a high-cholesterol diet from 4 weeks of age. Ten weeks later, overall area and cellular composition of aortic arch lesions did not differ significantly among genotypes. After 16 weeks, ApoE(-/-)/Agtr2+, but not ApoE(-/-)/Agtr2- mice had dramatic decreases in percent positive area of macrophages, smooth muscles, lipids, and collagen. Diminished bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and increased TUNEL staining accompanied these decreases. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, loss of AT2R during the evolution of atherosclerotic lesions augmented the extent of cellularity of atherosclerotic lesions, establishing AT2R as a modulator of atherogenesis.
Subject(s)
Atherosclerosis/pathology , Atherosclerosis/physiopathology , Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 2/genetics , Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 2/metabolism , Animals , Apolipoproteins E/genetics , Apoptosis , Atherosclerosis/metabolism , Cell Division , Collagen/metabolism , Diet, Atherogenic , Female , Gene Expression/physiology , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Mutant Strains , Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/metabolism , Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/pathology , RNA, Messenger/analysis , Vasculitis/metabolism , Vasculitis/pathology , Vasculitis/physiopathologyABSTRACT
Connector enhancer of KSR (CNK) proteins have been proposed to act as scaffolds in the Ras-MAPK pathway. In this work, using in vivo bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) assays and in vitro co-immunoprecipitation, we show that hCNK1 interacts with the active form of Rho A (G14V) proteins. The domain of hCNK1 that allows binding to Rho proteins involves the C-terminal PH domain. Overexpression of hCNK1 does not affect the actin cytoskeleton and does not modify the appearance of stress fibers in cells overexpressing a constitutively active form of RhoA. In contrast, hCNK1 was able to significantly decrease the RhoA-induced transcriptional activity of the serum response element (SRE) without effect on the Ras-induced SRE activation. These results identify hCNK1 as a specific partner of Rho proteins both in vitro and in vivo and suggest a role of hCNK1 in the signal transduction of Rho proteins.
