Abstract 065: Overexpression of an Intracellular Angiotensin II Fusion Protein Selectively in the Mitochondria of the Proximal Tubules Elevates Blood Pressure in Mice via AT 1a Receptor-mediated Mitochondrial Respiratory and Glycolysis Stress

Abstract

An intracrine mitochondrial renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has recently been identified in various animal and human tissues, but whether the mitochondrial RAS plays a physiological role in the regulation of blood pressure remains unknown. The present study tested whether overexpression of an intracellular angiotensin II fusion protein, ECFP/ANG II, selectively in the mitochondria of the proximal tubules alters blood pressure, and whether the effects may involve AT 1a receptors and the Na + /H + exchanger 3 (NHE3). An adenoviral vector encoding ECFP/ANG II, a mitochondria targeting sequence, and the sglt2 promoter, Ad-sglt2-mito-ECFP/ANG II, was constructed for proximal tubule- and mitochondria-specific overexpression for 2 weeks. In adult male C57BL/6J mice, overexpression of mito-ECFP/ANG II in the mitochondria of the proximal tubules increased systolic blood pressure (SBP) significantly (Control: 116 ± 3 vs. mito-ECFP/ANG II: 128 ± 3 mmHg; p <0.01, n=15). The blood pressure-increasing effect of Ad-sglt2-mito-ECFP/ANG II was blocked in proximal tubule-specific AT 1a -KO mice (Control: 105 ± 2 vs. mito-ECFP/ANG II: 104 ± 4 mmHg; n.s ., n=7), or in proximal tubule-specific NHE3-KO mice (Control: 108 ± 3 vs. mito-ECFP/ANG II: 107 ± 3 mmHg; n.s ., n=13), respectively. In further experiments, mouse proximal tubule cells were transfected with Ad-sglt2-mito-ECFP/ANG II for 48 h and treated with the AT 1 blocker losartan (10 μM) or the AT 2 blocker PD123319 (10 μM) to measure mitochondrial respiratory and glycolytic function using Seahorse XF Cell Mito and XF Glycolysis Stress Tests. The mito-ECFP/ANG II expression was robust and colocalized with MitoTracker® Red FM. Overexpression of mito-ECFP/ANG II markedly increased oxygen consumption rate (OCR) (Control: 139.4 ± 9.2 vs. mito-ECFP/ANG II: 236.3 ± 12.6 pmol/min; p <0.01, n=12) and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) (Control: 8.8 ± 0.6 vs. mito-ECFP/ANG II: 11.8 ± 1.2 mpH/min; p <0.01, n=12), respectively. Losartan blocked the effects of mito-ECFP/ANG II on OCR and ECAR, whereas PD123319 had no effect. We conclude that intracellular ANG II may activate AT 1 receptors in the mitochondria of the proximal tubules to alter mitochondrial respiratory and glycolytic function and arterial blood pressure.