Molecular mechanisms mediating protective effect of cAMP on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced human lung microvascular endothelial cells (HLMVEC) hyperpermeability

• Published in: Journal of cellular physiology 2009-12, Vol.221 (3), p.750-759
• Main Authors: Bogatcheva, Natalia V., Zemskova, Marina A., Kovalenkov, Yevgeniy, Poirier, Christophe, Verin, Alexander D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine - pharmacology; Actins - metabolism; Antigens, CD - metabolism; Cadherins - metabolism; Capillary Permeability - drug effects; Cell Adhesion Molecules - genetics; Cell Adhesion Molecules - metabolism; Colforsin - pharmacology; Contractile Proteins - genetics; Contractile Proteins - metabolism; Cyclic AMP - analogs & derivatives; Cyclic AMP - metabolism; Cyclic AMP - pharmacology; Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases - metabolism; Electric Impedance; Endothelial Cells - cytology; Endothelial Cells - drug effects; Endothelial Cells - metabolism; Endothelium, Vascular - cytology; Endothelium, Vascular - drug effects; Endothelium, Vascular - physiopathology; Filamins; Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors - agonists; Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors - metabolism; Humans; Lipopolysaccharides - pharmacology; Lung - cytology; Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Microfilament Proteins - genetics; Microfilament Proteins - metabolism; Phosphoproteins - genetics; Phosphoproteins - metabolism; Phosphorylation - drug effects; RNA, Small Interfering - genetics; Zonula Occludens-1 Protein
• ISSN: 0021-9541; 1097-4652
• DOI: 10.1002/jcp.21913

Up to date, the nature of the sepsis‐induced vascular leakage is understood only partially, which limits pharmacological approaches for its management. Here we studied the protective effect of cAMP using endotoxin‐induced hyperpermeability as a model for barrier dysfunction observed in gram‐negative sepsis. We demonstrated that the alleviation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐induced barrier compromise could be achieved by the specific activation of either protein kinase A (PKA) or Epac with cAMP analogs Bnz‐cAMP or O‐Me‐cAMP, respectively. We next studied the involvement of PKA substrates VASP and filamin1 in barrier maintenance and LPS‐induced barrier compromise. Depletion of both VASP and filamin1 with the specific siRNAs significantly exacerbated both the quiescent cells barrier and LPS‐induced barrier dysfunction, suggesting barrier‐protective role of these proteins. VASP depletion was associated with the more severe loss of ZO‐1 peripheral staining in response to LPS, whereas filamin1‐depleted cells reacted to LPS with more robust stress fiber induction and more profound changes in ZO‐1 and VE‐cadherin peripheral organization. Both VASP and filamin1 phosphorylation was significantly increased as a result of PKA activation. We next analyzed the effect of VASP and filamin1 depletion on the PKA‐dependent alleviation of LPS‐induced barrier compromise. We observed that Bnz‐cAMP ability to counteract LPS‐induced hyperpermeability was attenuated only by VASP, but not filamin1 depletion. Our data indicate that while PKA‐dependent VASP phosphorylation contributes to the protective effect of cAMP elicited on LPS‐compromised monolayers, filamin1 phosphorylation is unlikely to play a significant role in this process. J. Cell. Physiol. 221: 750–759, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.