Receptor cleavage and P-selectin-dependent reduction of leukocyte adhesion in the spontaneously hypertensive rat.

The SHR, a genetic model for hypertension and the metabolic syndrome, has attenuated leukocyte adhesion to the postcapillary endothelium by an unknown mechanism. Based on recent evidence of elevated levels of MMPs in plasma and on microvascular endothelium of the SHR with cleavage of several receptor types, we hypothesize that the reduced leukocyte-endothelial interaction is a result of enhanced proteolytic cleavage of P-selectin on the postcapillary endothelium and PSGL-1 on leukocytes. The attenuated rolling interactions of SHR leukocytes with the endothelium were restored by chronic treatment with a broad-spectrum MMP inhibitor (CGS) for 24 weeks. The SHR MMP levels, in plasma and mesentery, as well as the systolic blood pressure, decreased significantly with treatment. In the SHR mesentery, labeling of P-selectin in the postcapillary venules by immunohistochemistry demonstrated, on average, a 31% lower extracellular P-selectin density compared with the normotensive WKY. A significantly lower extracellular PSGL-1 density on the membranes of SHR neutrophils compared with the WKY also supported our hypothesis. In vivo stimulation of the mesenteric postcapillary venules with histamine demonstrated that the SHR had an attenuated response, as measured by leukocyte rolling velocity on the endothelium. The reduced P-selectin and PSGL-1 density, on SHR postcapillary endothelium and on SHR leukocytes, respectively, was restored significantly by chronic MMP inhibition. The impaired ability of SHR leukocytes to reduce rolling velocity upon inflammatory stimulation led to fewer firmly adhered leukocytes to the endothelium as a contributor to immune suppression.

Proteolytic Cleavage of the Red Blood Cell Glycocalyx in a Genetic Form of Hypertension.

Recent evidence suggests that the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) has an elevated level of proteases, including matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), involved in cell membrane receptor cleavage. We hypothesize that SHR red blood cells (RBCs) may be subject to an enhanced glycocalyx cleavage compared to the RBCs of the normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. By direct observation of RBC rouleaux, we found no significant difference in RBC aggregation for unseparated SHR and WKY RBCs. However, lighter SHR RBCs have a greater tendency to aggregate than WKY RBCs when separated by centrifugation. When SHR plasma was mixed with WKY RBCs, SHR plasma proteases cleaved the glycocalyx of WKY RBCs, a process that can be blocked by MMP inhibition. When treated with MMPs, WKY RBCs showed strong aggregation in dextran but not in fibrinogen, indicating that RBC membrane glycoproteins from the inner core of the glycocalyx were cleaved and that dextran was able to bind to the lipid portion of the RBC membrane. In contrast, treatment with amylases produced fibrinogen-induced aggregation with fibrinogen binding to the protein core. MMP cleavage of RBC glycocalyx reduces RBC adhesion to macrophages as a mechanism to remove old RBCs from the circulation.

Receptor cleavage reduces the fluid shear response in neutrophils of the spontaneously hypertensive rat.

Physiological fluid shear stress evokes pseudopod retraction in normal leukocytes by a mechanism that involves the formyl peptide receptor (FPR) as mechanosensor. In hypertensives, such as the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), leukocytes lack the normal fluid shear response. The increased activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs, including MMP-9) in SHR plasma is associated with cleavage of several cell membrane receptors. We hypothesize that the attenuated fluid shear response in leukocytes (neutrophils) of the SHR is due to extracellular proteolytic cleavage of the FPR. We show that suspended SHR neutrophils in whole blood sheared in a cone-and-plate device or individual neutrophils adherent to a glass surface and subject to fluid shear exhibited reduced pseudopod retractions compared with neutrophils of control Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. SHR neutrophils and naïve Wistar rat neutrophils exposed to SHR plasma also exhibited impaired fluid shear responses as shown by their inability to project pseudopods with fluid shear. Labeling of extracellular FPR revealed that the FPR density in SHR neutrophils is on average 27% reduced compared with those of the WKY rats. Exposure of Wistar rat neutrophils to the gelatinase MMP-9 (final concentration 5 nM) led to attenuation of fluid shear response and decrease in extracellular FPR density. Chronic treatment of the SHR with a broad-acting MMP inhibitor, doxycycline, significantly improved the fluid shear response and increased the FPR extracellular density of SHR neutrophils. These results suggest that proteolytic cleavage of the FPR may interfere with normal fluid shear-induced pseudopod retractions in SHR neutrophils.