Angiotensin-converting Enzyme Activity In Cells Research Articles

ACE overexpression in myeloid cells increases oxidative metabolism and cellular ATP

ACE overexpression in myeloid cells increases oxidative metabolism and cellular ATP

Monocrotaline pyrrole-induced changes in angiotensin-converting enzyme activity of cultured pulmonary artery endothelial cells.

1. Changes in the structural and functional integrity of endothelium have been recognized as relatively early features of delayed and progressive pulmonary vascular injury caused by the pyrrolizidine alkaloid, monocrotaline (MCT). Although a number of investigators have evaluated angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity in the lungs of rats treated with MCT, the exact nature of changes in activity of this enzyme and the role they may play in MCT pneumotoxicity remain controversial. 2. We examined the direct effects of monocrotaline pyrrole (MCTP), a toxic metabolite of MCT, on cultured endothelial cell ACE activity. Post-confluent monolayers of porcine or bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PECs or BECs, respectively) were treated with a single administration of MCTP at time 0; then they were examined for their ability to degrade the synthetic peptide, [3H]-benzoyl-Phe-Ala-Pro. 3. In PECs, which are relatively insensitive to the direct cytolytic effects of MCTP, monolayer ACE activity was unchanged initially but gradually decreased within 4 days after treatment with a high concentration of MCTP (150 microM). This decrease was transient, and PEC monolayer ACE activity returned to the control value by 10 days post treatment. 4. BEC monolayer ACE activity was also unchanged initially but rapidly declined within 4 days after MCTP treatment and remained depressed throughout the post treatment period. BECs were quite sensitive to the cytolytic effects of MCTP and the decline in ACE activity occurred coincident with the decrease in monolayer cellularity and appearance of marked cytotoxicity. 5. We conclude that high concentrations of MCTP decrease endothelial ACE activity. The decline in ACE activity is delayed and the magnitude and duration of the decrease corresponds to the degree ofMCTP-induced cytotoxicity. This suggests that altered endothelial ACE activity is unlikely to be a direct effect of MCTP on the enzyme but may reflect the delayed cell injury which results from exposure to this compound.

Lipopolysaccharides decrease angiotensin converting enzyme activity expressed by cultured human endothelial cells.

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is present on endothelial cells and plays a role in regulating blood pressure in vivo by converting angiotensin I to angiotensin II and metabolizing bradykinin. Since ACE activity is decreased in vivo in sepsis, the ability of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to suppress endothelial cell ACE activity was tested by culturing human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) for 0-72 hr with or without LPS and then measuring ACE activity. ACE activity in intact HUVEC monolayers incubated with LPS (10 micrograms/ml) decreased markedly with time and was inhibited by 33%, 71%, and 76% after 24 hr, 48 hr, and 72 hr, respectively, when compared with control, untreated cells. The inhibitory effect of LPS was partially reversible upon removal of the LPS and further incubation in the absence of LPS. The LPS-induced decrease in ACE activity was dependent on the concentrations of LPS (IC50 = 15 ng/ml at 24 hr) and was detectable at LPS concentrations as low as 1 ng/ml. That LPS decreased the Vmax of ACE in the absence of cytotoxicity and without a change in Km suggests that LPS decreased the amount of ACE present on the HUVEC cell membrane. While some LPS serotypes (Escherichia coli 0111:B4 and 055:B5, S. minnesota) were more potent inhibitors of ACE activity than others (E. coli 026:B6 and S. marcescens), all LPS serotypes tested were inhibitory. These finding suggest that LPS decreases endothelial ACE activity in septic patients; in turn, this decrease in ACE activity may decrease angiotensin II production and bradykinin catabolism and thus play a role in the pathogenesis of septic shock.

Studies on the renin-angiotensin system in primary monolayer cell cultures of the rat epididymis.

Monolayer cell cultures formed from the rat cauda epididymidis exhibited renin-like and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activities and contained immunoreactive angiotensin I (AI) and angiotensin II (AII). Renin-like activity, determined indirectly by radioimmunoassay of generated AI at a near-neutral pH of 6.0, was demonstrated in the cell lysate but was almost undetectable in the serum-free cell culture medium, suggesting that renin expression in epididymal cells is an intracellular phenomenon. In contrast, both AI and AII were detected in the cell lysate and cell culture medium. The level of AI was enhanced by pretreating the cells with the ACE inhibitor captopril (100 nmol/l). Incubating the cell monolayers with thoroughly washed sperm cells obtained from the intact cauda epididymides of rats increase (P less than 0.01) the AII content of the cell culture medium, with a parallel decline (P less than 0.01) in the AI concentration. However, adrenaline (0.23 mumol/l), which was found to stimulate electrogenic anion secretion by cell monolayers grown on previous supports, was without effect on the renin-like activity or concentration of angiotensins. The ACE activity in cells was confirmed by its strong dependence on chloride ion and its susceptibility to inhibition by captopril (100 nmol/l). Enzyme activity was significantly (P less than 0.005) higher in the culture medium than in the cell lysate and cell membrane fragments. Angiotensinogen, which is obligatory for an intrinsic renin-angiotensin system, is present in epididymal cells. Presumably, it is synthesized and processed in the cell cytosol by intracellular renin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Hormonal influence on endothelial cell angiotensin-converting enzyme activity.

The influence of various hormones on angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) production and release by bovine endothelial cells in culture was studied. Dexamethasone, thyroxine (T4), and triiodothyronine (T3) stimulated ACE activity in cells and their culture supernatants without affecting cell number or protein content. The stimulating effects of dexamethasone and thyroid hormones were additive, suggesting that these hormones may have different sites of action. In addition, their stimulating effects were blocked by cycloheximide, indicating that increased enzymatic activity occurred through new protein synthesis. The exposure of cells to insulin reduced ACE activity of cells and their culture supernatants without influencing cell counts or protein content; insulin also partially inhibited the stimulation of ACE activity by dexamethasone or T3. Our studies suggest that the production of ACE by endothelial cells is under hormonal regulation. Release of ACE activity into culture supernatants parallels changes in cellular ACE activity. The results supplement previous observations made in vitro and in vivo.

Induction by glucocorticoids of angiotensin converting enzyme production from bovine endothelial cells in culture and rat lung in vivo.

The effect of corticosteroids on angiotensin converting enzyme was investigated in endothelial cell cultures and intact rat lung. Cultured endothelial cells from bovine aorta showed net production of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) over 2 d culture in serum-free medium. Dexamethasone (DM) increased cell ACE activity six- to sevenfold at 100 nM with a threshold effect at 0.3 nM. The effect of DM on ACE production was completely inhibited by actinomycin D or cycloheximide. Deoxycorticosterone (DOC) and aldosterone were markedly less active, with a threshold near 100 nM and significant (two to threefold) stimulation of ACE activity at 1 muM. In cells incubated in the presence of 10 nM DM, DOC (10 muM) significantly inhibited ACE production compared with 10 nM DM alone, suggesting that DOC is a partial agonist/partial antagonist in this enzyme system. Protein content of cells or medium was unchanged by steroids at all doses used. In vivo, adrenalectomized rats showed lower pulmonary ACE compared with intact controls, and when injected with DM (40 mug/d for 4 d) showed a significant (twofold, P < 0.002) increase in lung ACE over oil-injected, adrenalectomized controls; serum ACE did not change. Injection with DOC (40 mug/d) or aldosterone (10 mug/d) had no effect on lung or serum ACE. Over a range (0.6 to 2,000 mug) of concentrations of DM administered daily for 7 d, the dose-response curve of DM for induction of pulmonary ACE mirrored that for thymolysis; for both, half-maximal effects were seen at approximately 6 mug DM/d, and plateau levels at 60 mug/d. We conclude that glucocorticoids are potent inducers of ACE activity in endothelial cells in culture and in rat lung in vivo, and that the action of aldosterone and DOC reflects occupancy of glucocorticoid receptors. This effect may be of (patho)physiological relevance in regulating levels of ACE in local vascular beds, and thereby modulating local levels of the vasoactive peptides angiotensin II and bradykinin.