Interleukin (IL)-6 decreases cardiac contractility via a nitric oxide (NO)-dependent pathway. However, mechanisms underlying IL-6-induced NO production remain unclear. JAK2/STAT3 and ERK1/2 are two well known signaling pathways activated by IL-6 in non-cardiac cells. However, these IL-6-activated pathways have not been identified in adult cardiac myocytes. In this study, we identified activation of these two pathways during IL-6 stimulation and examined their roles in IL-6-induced NO production and decrease in contractility of adult ventricular myocytes. IL-6 increased phosphorylation of STAT3 (at Tyr 705 ) and ERK1/2 (at Tyr 204 ) within 5 min that peaked at 15-30 min and returned to basal levels at 2 h. Phosphorylation of STAT3 was blocked by genistein, a protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor, and AG490, a JAK2 inhibitor, but not PD98059, an ERK1/2 kinase inhibitor. The phosphorylation of ERK1/2 was blocked by PD98059 and genistein but not AG490. Furthermore, IL-6 enhanced de novo synthesis of iNOS protein, increased NO production, and decreased cardiac contractility after 2 h of incubation. These effects were blocked by genistein and AG490 but not PD98059. We conclude that IL-6 activated independently the JAK2/STAT3 and ERK1/2 pathways, but only JAK2/ STAT3 signaling mediated the NO-associated decrease in contractility.

We previously showed that in adult rat ventricular myocytes interleukin (IL)-1β activates a membrane-associated, Ca2+-independent phospholipase A2(iPLA2). In this study, we examined the possible existence of different PLA2 isoforms and effects of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α on iPLA2activities. Western blot analysis identified iPLA2 in both membrane (∼82 kDa) and cytosolic (∼40 kDa) fractions and identified Ca2+-dependent PLA2(cPLA2) only in cytosolic fractions. With plasmenylcholine or alkylacyl glycerophosphorylcholine as substrate, TNF-α elicited a twofold transient increase in cytosolic iPLA2 activity accompanied by an increase in arachidonic acid release and decreased membrane-associated iPLA2 activity with plasmenylcholine. With phosphatidylcholine as substrate, TNF-α decreased both cytosolic and membrane-associated iPLA2 activities. TNF-α-induced increases in cytosolic iPLA2activity and arachidonic acid release were completely blocked by methyl arachidonyl fluorophosphonate (MAFP) but not by bromoenol lactone (BEL). TNF-α and IL-1β together enhanced synergistically cytosolic and membrane PLA2 activities and arachidonic acid release that were blocked differentially by MAFP and BEL, respectively, and inhibited completely by MAFP plus BEL. These results suggest that TNF-α and IL-1β act on different PLA2 isoforms in ventricular myocytes.

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The possible mechanism by which interleukin-1β (IL-1β) affects β-adrenergic responsiveness of L-type Ca2+ current ( I Ca,L) was examined in adult rat ventricular myocytes by use of whole cell patch-clamp techniques. In the presence of isoproterenol (Iso), exposure for 3 min to IL-1β suppressed the Iso-activated I Ca,L. In the presence of IL-1β, the response of I Ca,L to Iso was decreased, and the EC50 for Iso stimulation was increased. However, IL-1β had no effect on [3H]CGP-12177 binding, displacement of [3H]CGP-12177 binding by Iso, or on basal and Iso-enhanced cAMP content. When I Ca,L was activated by extracellular application of forskolin or 8-(4-chlorophenylthio)-cAMP, a membrane-permeable cAMP analog, or by intracellular dialysis with cAMP, IL-1β had little effect on I Ca,L. In contrast, in the presence of cAMP, IL-1β still suppressed the Iso-enhanced I Ca,L. These results show that the IL-1β-induced decrease in β-adrenergic responsiveness of I Ca,L does not result from inhibition of β-adrenoceptor binding, adenylyl cyclase activity, or cAMP-mediated pathways, suggesting a cAMP-independent mechanism.