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  2. Vascular smooth muscle-specific LRRC8A knockout ameliorates angiotensin II-induced cerebrovascular remodeling by inhibiting the WNK1/FOXO3a/MMP signaling pathway

Vascular smooth muscle-specific LRRC8A knockout ameliorates angiotensin II-induced cerebrovascular remodeling by inhibiting the WNK1/FOXO3a/MMP signaling pathway

  • Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2024 May 8. doi: 10.1038/s41401-024-01280-1.
Feng-Ting Lu # 1 2 Cheng-Cui Huang # 3 Wen-Yi Lai # 1 2 Gui-Yong Yang 1 Zhu-Jun Liang 1 Zi-Yi Zhang 1 Tanvi Chokshi 4 Kai-Min Guo 5 Yu-Bo Tang 6 Yuan Chen 2 Zhong-Han Yang 2 Si-Jia Liang 7 Rui-Ping Pang 8 Jia-Guo Zhou 1 Yong-Yuan Guan 1 Xiao-Fei Lv 9 Ming-Ming Ma 10
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Pharmacology, and Cardiac & Cerebral Vascular Research Center, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
  • 2 Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen, 518107, China.
  • 3 Department of Pharmacy, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510655, China.
  • 4 Research Division, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
  • 5 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510623, China.
  • 6 Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
  • 7 Advanced Medical Technology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
  • 8 Department of Physiology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
  • 9 Department of Pharmacology, and Cardiac & Cerebral Vascular Research Center, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China. lvxiaof2@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
  • 10 Department of Pharmacology, and Cardiac & Cerebral Vascular Research Center, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China. mamm3@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
  • # Contributed equally.
Abstract

Hypertensive cerebrovascular remodeling involves the enlargement of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), which activates volume-regulated Cl- channels (VRCCs). The leucine-rich repeat-containing family 8 A (LRRC8A) has been shown to be the molecular identity of VRCCs. However, its role in vascular remodeling during hypertension is unclear. In this study, we used vascular smooth muscle-specific LRRC8A knockout (CKO) mice and an angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced hypertension model. The results showed that cerebrovascular remodeling during hypertension was ameliorated in CKO mice, and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition was reduced. Based on the RNA-sequencing analysis of aortic tissues, the level of Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs), such as MMP-9 and MMP-14, were reduced in CKO mice with hypertension, which was further verified in vivo by qPCR and immunofluorescence analysis. Knockdown of LRRC8A in VSMCs inhibited the Ang II-induced upregulation of collagen I, fibronectin, and Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs), and overexpression of LRRC8A had the opposite effect. Further experiments revealed an interaction between with-no-lysine (K)-1 (WNK1), which is a "Cl--sensitive kinase", and Forkhead transcription factor O3a (FOXO3a), which is a transcription factor that regulates MMP expression. Ang II induced the phosphorylation of WNK1 and downstream FOXO3a, which then increased the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9. This process was inhibited or potentiated when LRRC8A was knocked down or overexpressed, respectively. Overall, these results demonstrate that LRRC8A knockout in vascular smooth muscle protects against cerebrovascular remodeling during hypertension by reducing ECM deposition and inhibiting the WNK1/FOXO3a/MMP signaling pathway, demonstrating that LRRC8A is a potential therapeutic target for vascular remodeling-associated diseases such as stroke.

Keywords

FOXO3a; LRRC8A; WNK1; extracellular matrix; matrix metalloproteinases; vascular remodeling.

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