We recently found that the metabolic sensor AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) inhibits the epithelial Na ؉ channel (ENaC) through decreased plasma membrane ENaC expression, an effect requiring the presence of a binding motif in the cytoplasmic tail of the ␤-ENaC subunit for the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4-2. To further examine the role of Nedd4-2 in the regulation of ENaC by AMPK, we studied the effects of AMPK activation on ENaC currents in Xenopus oocytes co-expressing ENaC and wild-type (WT) or mutant forms of Nedd4-2. ENaC inhibition by AMPK was preserved in oocytes expressing WT Nedd4-2 but blocked in oocytes expressing either a dominant-negative (DN) or constitutively active (CA) Nedd4-2 mutant, suggesting that AMPK-dependent modulation of Nedd4-2 function is involved. Similar experiments utilizing WT or mutant forms of the serum-and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase (SGK1), modulators of protein kinase A (PKA), or extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK) did not affect ENaC inhibition by AMPK, suggesting that these pathways known to modulate the Nedd4-2-ENaC interaction are not responsible. AMPK-dependent phosphorylation of Nedd4-2 expressed in HEK-293 cells occurred both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting a potential mechanism for modulation of Nedd4-2 and thus cellular ENaC activity. Moreover, cellular AMPK activation significantly enhanced the interaction of the ␤-ENaC subunit with Nedd4-2, as measured by co-immunoprecipitation assays in HEK-293 cells. In summary, these results suggest a novel mechanism for ENaC regulation in which AMPK promotes ENaC-Nedd4-2 interaction, thereby inhibiting ENaC by increasing Nedd4-2-dependent ENaC retrieval from the plasma membrane. AMPK-dependent ENaC inhibition may limit cellular Na ؉ loading under conditions of metabolic stress when AMPK becomes activated.The epithelial Na ϩ channel (ENaC) 2 is an apical Na ϩ channel expressed in a variety of salt-reabsorbing epithelial tissues, including the kidney, lung, exocrine gland ducts, and colon (1). This channel plays a major role in the regulation of total body salt and volume homeostasis, blood pressure, and airway surface liquid clearance. ENaC is comprised of three structurally similar ␣-, ␤-, and ␥-subunits, whose full-length forms are ϳ90 -95 kDa in size. Each subunit has two presumed transmembrane domains, a large extracellular loop, and cytoplasmic N and C termini (1). ENaC expressed in oocytes has a presumed ␣ 2 ␤ 1 ␥ 1 stoichiometry (2, 3), although alternate subunit stoichiometries have been proposed (4, 5). ENaC can be identified by its sensitivity to the diuretic amiloride, its ohmic currentvoltage relationship, and its high selectivity for conductance of Na ϩ and Li ϩ over K ϩ (1). ENaC is regulated by the actions of several hormones, including aldosterone, vasopressin, and insulin, as well as various non-hormonal mechanisms. Cellular mechanisms that control ENaC activity include the regulation of channel synthesis, intracellular trafficking, membrane insertion and retrieval, and single channel properties (1). In addition, rece...

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The metabolic sensor AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) inhibits both the cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl -channel and epithelial Na 1 channel (ENaC), and may inhibit secretion of proinflammatory cytokines in epithelia. Here we have tested in primary polarized CF and non-CF human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells the effects of AMPK activators, metformin and 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-b-D-riboside (AICAR), on various parameters that contribute to CF lung disease: ENaC-dependent short-circuit currents (I sc ), airway surface liquid (ASL) height, and proinflammatory cytokine secretion. AMPK activation after overnight treatment with either metformin (2-5 mM) or AICAR (1 mM) substantially inhibited ENaC-dependent I sc in both CF and non-CF airway cultures. Live-cell confocal images acquired 60 minutes after apical addition of Texas Red-dextran-containing fluid revealed significantly greater ASL heights after AICAR and metformin treatment relative to controls, suggesting that AMPK-dependent ENaC inhibition slows apical fluid reabsorption. Both metformin and AICAR decreased secretion of various proinflammatory cytokines, both with and without prior LPS stimulation. Finally, prolonged exposure to more physiologically relevant concentrations of metformin (0.03-1 mM) inhibited ENaC currents and decreased proinflammatory cytokine levels in CF HBE cells in a dose-dependent manner. These findings suggest that novel therapies to activate AMPK in the CF airway may be beneficial by blunting excessive sodium and ASL absorption and by reducing excessive airway inflammation, which are major contributors to CF lung disease.Keywords: metformin; cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator; ENaC; airway surface liquid; inflammationThe serious genetic disease cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl -channel expressed at the apical membrane in a variety of epithelial tissues, including the lung, where CF lung disease causes considerable morbidity and mortality (1). Defective CFTR function prevents airway epithelium from adequately regulating the airway surface liquid (ASL) volume, which has an adverse effect on mucus clearance from the lung. The CF airway invariably becomes colonized by bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and develops excessive inflammation, which can cause extensive damage to lung architecture and eventuate in respiratory failure (2). There is growing evidence that a lack of functional CFTR promotes an exaggerated or prolonged inflammatory response to bacterial and other insults, although the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms are unclear (3-5). Both up-regulation of proinflammatory mediators (e.g., IL-8, IL-6, TNF-a, and GM-CSF) and down-regulation of anti-inflammatory mediators (e.g., IL-10 and inducible nitric oxide synthase) in the CF airway may play an important role in this process (6-8).Excessive activity of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) on the luminal airway surface is a key factor involved in th...

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients lack dystrophin from birth; however, muscle weakness becomes apparent only at 3-5 years of age, which happens to coincide with the depletion of the muscle progenitor cell (MPC) pools. Indeed, MPCs isolated from older DMD patients demonstrate impairments in myogenic potential. To determine whether the progression of muscular dystrophy is a consequence of the decline in functional MPCs, we investigated two animal models of DMD: (i) dystrophin-deficient mdx mice, the most commonly utilized model of DMD, which has a relatively mild dystrophic phenotype and (ii) dystrophin/utrophin double knock-out (dKO) mice, which display a similar histopathologic phenotype to DMD patients. In contrast to age-matched mdx mice, we observed that both the number and regeneration potential of dKO MPCs rapidly declines during disease progression. This occurred in MPCs at both early and late stages of myogenic commitment. In fact, early MPCs isolated from 6-week-old dKO mice have reductions in proliferation, resistance to oxidative stress and multilineage differentiation capacities compared with age-matched mdx MPCs. This effect may potentially be mediated by fibroblast growth factor overexpression and/or a reduction in telomerase activity. Our results demonstrate that the rapid disease progression in the dKO model is associated, at least in part, with MPC depletion. Therefore, alleviating MPC depletion could represent an approach to delay the onset of the histopathologies associated with DMD patients.

BackgroundTelomere defects are thought to play a role in cardiomyopathies, but the specific cell type affected by the disease in human hearts is not yet identified. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the cell type specificity of telomere shortening in patients with heart failure in relation to their cardiac disease, age, and sex.Methods and ResultsWe studied cardiac tissues from patients with heart failure by utilizing telomere quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization, a highly sensitive method with single‐cell resolution. In this study, total of 63 human left ventricular samples, including 37 diseased and 26 nonfailing donor hearts, were stained for telomeres in combination with cardiomyocyte‐ or α‐smooth muscle cell‐specific markers, cardiac troponin T, and smooth muscle actin, respectively, and assessed for telomere length. Patients with heart failure demonstrate shorter cardiomyocyte telomeres compared with nonfailing donors, which is specific only to cardiomyocytes within diseased human hearts and is associated with cardiomyocyte DNA damage. Our data further reveal that hypertrophic hearts with reduced ejection fraction exhibit the shortest telomeres. In contrast to other reported cell types, no difference in cardiomyocyte telomere length is evident with age. However, under the disease state, telomere attrition manifests in both young and older patients with cardiac hypertrophy. Finally, we demonstrate that cardiomyocyte‐telomere length is better sustained in women than men under diseased conditions.ConclusionsThis study provides the first evidence of cardiomyocyte‐specific telomere shortening in heart failure.