All components of the natriuretic peptide (NP) system have been found in the ovary. The purpose of this study was to determine the hormonal regulation of the NP system during follicular growth and ovulation induced by gonadotropins eCG and hCG. Ovarian membrane binding, before and after treatment, revealed the presence of guanylyl cyclase-type receptors exclusively. Equine CG treatment increased Bmax from 225 +/- 50 fmol/mg protein in control animals to 354 +/- 51 fmol/mg protein, and additional hCG treatment increased it further to 492 +/- 130 fmol/mg protein (p < 0.05), without changing receptor affinity. The increased binding was consistent with increased ability of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) to activate guanylyl cyclase in the ovarian cells obtained from hormone-treated animals. In confirmation, autoradiography of 125I-tyroCNP and 125I-ANP binding to the rat ovary showed that both guanylyl cyclase GC-A and GC-B receptor subtypes are localized to the granulosa cells of antral follicles. Quantitative analysis of GC-A and GC-B receptors by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction showed that the expression level of both receptors started to increase at 2 h and reached maximal levels at 6 h following eCG treatment. Increased levels of GC-B mRNA were also observed 12 h after eCG injection. At 24 and 48 h the receptor levels were below basal. Stimulation of NP receptors by eCG was paralleled by activation of both ovarian ANP and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) gene expression. ANP mRNA increased as early as 1 h after eCG injection and remained elevated up to 6 h. CNP mRNA increased at 2 h after eCG injection, peaked (5-fold) at 6 h, and remained elevated 48 h later, a stage at which follicular maturation continues. Incubation of ovaries with ANP significantly decreased eCG-induced estradiol level, indicating the functionality of the ovarian NP system. These results implicate the NP system in the induction and maintenance of fluid balance in the rapidly developing ovarian follicle.

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) specifically stimulates particulate guanylate cyclase, and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) has been recognized as its second messenger. Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) have elevated plasma ANP levels, but manifest an exaggerated natriuretic and diuretic response to exogenous ANP when compared to normotensive strains. In isolated glomeruli, the maximal cGMP response to ANP corresponds to a 12-to 14-fold increase over basal levels in normotensive strains (Wistar 13±2; Wistar-Kyoto 12+2;Sprague-Dawley 14±2) while a maximal 33±3-fold elevation occurs in SHR (P < 0.001). This hyperresponsiveness of cGMP is reproducible in intact glomeruli from SHR from various commercial sources. Furthermore, this abnormality develops early in life, even before hypertension is clearly established, and persists despite pharmacological modulation of blood pressure, indicating that it is a primary event in hypertension.In vitro studies have revealed a higher particulate guanylate cyclase activity in membranes from glomeruli and other tissues from SHR. This increase is not accounted for by different patterns of ANP binding to its receptor subtypes between normotensive and hypertensive strains, as assessed by competitive displacement with C-ANP'02-121, an analog which selectively binds to one ANP receptor subtype. The hyperactivity of particulate guanylate cyclase in SHR and its behavior under basal, ligand (ANP), and detergent-enhanced conditions could be attributed either to increased expression or augmented sensitivity of the enzyme. Radiation-inactivation analysis does not evoke a disturbance in the size of regulatory elements normally repressing enzymatic activity, while the expression of particulate guanylate cyclase gene using mutated standard of A-and B-receptors partial cDNAs, quantified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) transcript titration assay, manifests a selective increase of one guanylate cyclase subtype. Our data suggest that in hypertension, genetic overexpression of the ANP A-receptor subtype is related to the exaggerated biological response to ANP in this disease. (J. Clin. Invest. 1993. 92:2499-2508

Two types of natriuretic peptide receptors (NPR-A and NPR-B) are membrane guanylate cyclases whose relative expression varies in different tissues. Because natriuretic peptides have been shown to inhibit aortic smooth muscle proliferation, we investigated the regulation of NPR-A and NPR-B in these cells under different proliferative conditions. NPR subtype mRNA levels were measured by our newly developed quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay using mutated NPR-A and NPR-B cRNA as internal standards. The functional impact of their expression was determined by atrial nutriuretic peptide (ANP)-and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP)-induced stimulation of cyclic GMP production. In the intact aorta, NPR-B mRNA levels were found to be 10-fold higher than those of NPR-A. This dominance was further amplified (1000-fold) in long-term cultures (10 to 15 passages) of aortic smooth muscle cells (ASMC). Higher cyclic GMP production with CNP than with ANP was observed in cultured ASMC from Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. Similar stimulation by the two agonists was noted in spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) cells, paralleled by a

These studies were designed to characterize the atrial natriuretic peptide (ANF) receptor subtypes [guanylyl cyclase natriuretic peptide receptors (NPR-A, NPR-B) and NPR-C] in lungs of normal hamsters and to evaluate alterations in receptor kinetics in genetic cardiomyopathy (CMO), a model of human congestive heart failure. Lung membranes were obtained from normal and CMO 200-to 230-day-old hamsters. Cross-linking and competitive binding receptor assays using 125I-labeled human ANF showed that lung membranes exhibit NPR, mainly guanylyl cyclase NPR-A and clearance NPR-C receptors. Stimulation of guanylyl cyclase by ANF and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) confirmed the presence of NPR-A and NPR-B. The maximum binding capacity of total ANF binding sites (442 +/- 68 vs. 271 +/- 57 fmol/mg protein, P < 0.05) was reduced, but dissociation constant (0.26 +/- 0.04 vs. 0.41 +/- 0.08 nM) was not altered in CMO animals. Similar reductions were observed in the binding sites for brain natriuretic peptide (BNP; 438 +/- 83 vs. 236 +/- 53 fmol/mg protein) and CNP (321 +/- 80 vs. 165 +/- 56 fmol/mg protein, P < 0.05) which may reflect a decline in NPR-A and NPR-B and/or NPR-C. Acid wash improved binding of 125I-labeled rat ANF to lung membranes of both normal and CMO hamsters, but the tendency towards reduced binding in CMO hamsters did not reach statistical significance, implying that downregulation may not have been due only to prior occupancy of the receptors. Transcripts of NPR-A, NPR-B, and NPR-C receptors in hamster lungs were detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Compared with normal controls, the CMO hamster lung NPR-A mRNA was reduced by 50%, but NPR-B mRNA and NPR-C mRNA were not altered. Moreover, CMO hamster lungs showed less activation of guanylyl cyclase by ANF. These studies demonstrate that lung NPR are downregulated in hamster CMO.