Objective-Human urotensin-II (UII) is considered the most potent endogenous vasoconstrictor discovered to date, although the precise mechanism activated downstream of its receptor UTS2R in blood vessels remains elusive. The aim of this study was to determine the role of the store operated Ca 21 entry (SOCE) signaling pathway in UII-induced coronary artery vasoconstriction. Methods and Results-We used a combination of isometric tension measurement, Ca 21 imaging, pharmacology, and molecular approaches to study UII-mediated rat coronary artery vasoconstriction and intracellular Ca 21 mobilization in coronary smooth muscle cells. We found that UII promoted dose-dependent vasoconstriction and elicited Ca 21 and Mn 21 influx, which were sensitive to classical SOCE inhibitors. In addition, knockdown of either STIM1 or Orai1 essentially inhibited UII-mediated SOCE and prevented UII but not high-KCL evoked contraction in transfected coronary artery. Moreover, we found that Ca 21 -independent phospholipase A 2 was involved in UII effects and that is colocalized with STIM1 in different submembrane compartments. Importantly, STIM1 but not Orai1 downregulation inhibits significantly independent phospholipase A 2 activation. Furthermore, lysophosphatidylcholine, an independent phospholipase A 2 product, activated Orai1 but not STIM1-dependent contraction and SOCE. In the present study, we aimed to give further insights into the signaling pathway that mediates the effect of UII in coronary artery with special emphasis on SOCE regulated by STIM1, Orai1, and iPLA 2 .
MethodsAn expanded Materials and Methods section detailing the protocols and techniques used in this study can be found in the online-only Data Supplement.
Cells and artery PreparationIsolated rat coronary arteries were dissected from the heart of adult male Wistar rats weighing 250 to 450 g and cells culture were prepared as previously described. 16 Isometric tension was measured in rat coronary arterial rings (2 mm) using a small-vessel myograph (JP Trading, Aarhus, Denmark) connected to a digital recorder (Myodataq-2.01, Myodata-2.02 Multi-Myograph System) as previously described.
intracellular Ca 21 MeasurementCa 21 and Mn 21 measurement were carried out in isolated SMC loaded with 2 to 5 mol/L fura-2 am using an imagine system (InCyt Im2, Intracellular Imaging, Imsol, UK) equipped with a light-sensitive CCD camera (Cooke PixelFly, ASI, Eugene, OR) as described previously. 16,20,21 results uii Mediates Vasoconstriction through uii receptors, uts2r, in Coronary artery First, we examined the effect of UII on coronary artery contraction. Figure 1A shows that the cumulative application of UII produced a concentration-dependent vasoconstriction in endothelium-denuded coronary arterial rings. Maximal contraction was observed when UII was applied at 100 nmol/L concentration and the EC 50 521.21.3 nmol/L comparing to the vasoconstriction induced by 60 mmol/L KCL. To demonstrate the involvement of UTS2R in UII effects in coronary artery, we first confirmed by West...