The importance of NADPH oxidase (Nox) in hypoxic responses in hypoxia-sensing cells, including pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs), remains uncertain. In this study, using Western blot analysis we found that the major Nox subunits Nox1, Nox4, p22(phox), p47(phox), and p67(phox) were equivalently expressed in mouse pulmonary and systemic (mesenteric) arteries. However, acute hypoxia significantly increased Nox activity and translocation of p47(phox) protein to the plasma membrane in pulmonary, but not mesenteric, arteries. The Nox inhibitor apocynin and p47(phox) gene deletion attenuated the hypoxic increase in intracellular concentrations of reactive oxygen species and Ca(2+) ([ROS](i) and [Ca(2+)](i)), as well as contractions in mouse PASMCs, and abolished the hypoxic activation of Nox in pulmonary arteries. The conventional/novel protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor chelerythrine, specific PKCepsilon translocation peptide inhibitor, and PKCepsilon gene deletion, but not the conventional PKC inhibitor GO6976, prevented the hypoxic increase in Nox activity in pulmonary arteries and [ROS](i) in PASMCs. The PKC activator phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate could increase Nox activity in pulmonary and mesenteric arteries. Inhibition of mitochondrial ROS generation with rotenone or myxothiazol prevented hypoxic activation of Nox. Glutathione peroxidase-1 (Gpx1) gene overexpression to enhance H(2)O(2) removal significantly inhibited the hypoxic activation of Nox, whereas Gpx1 gene deletion had the opposite effect. Exogenous H(2)O(2) increased Nox activity in pulmonary and mesenteric arteries. These findings suggest that acute hypoxia may distinctively activate Nox to increase [ROS](i) through the mitochondrial ROS-PKCepsilon signaling axis, providing a positive feedback mechanism to contribute to the hypoxic increase in [ROS](i) and [Ca(2+)](i) as well as contraction in PASMCs.

Following experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI), a rapid and significant necrosis occurs at the site of injury which coincides with significant mitochondrial dysfunction. The present study is driven by the hypothesis that TBI-induced glutamate release increases mitochondrial Ca(2+)cycling/overload, ultimately leading to mitochondrial dysfunction. Based on this premise, mitochondrial uncoupling during the acute phases of TBI-induced excitotoxicity should reduce mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake (cycling) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production since both are mitochondrial membrane potential dependent. In the present study, we utilized a cortical impact model of TBI to assess the potential use of mitochondrial uncouplers (2,4-DNP, FCCP) as a neuroprotective therapy. Young adult male rats were intraperitoneally administered vehicle (DMSO), 2,4-DNP (5 mg/kg), or FCCP (2.5 mg/kg) at 5 min post-injury. All animals treated with the uncouplers demonstrated a significant reduction in the amount of cortical damage and behavioral improvement following TBI. In addition, mitochondria isolated from the injured cortex at 3 or 6 h post-injury demonstrated that treatment with the uncouplers significantly improved several parameters of mitochondrial bioenergetics. These results demonstrate that post-injury treatment with mitochondrial uncouplers significantly (p < 0.01) increases cortical tissue sparing ( approximately 12%) and significantly (p< 0.01) improves behavioral outcome following TBI. The mechanism of neuroprotection most likely involves the maintenance of mitochondrial homeostasis by reducing mitochondrial Ca(2+) loading and subsequent mitochondrial dysfunction. These results further implicate mitochondrial dysfunction as an early event in the pathophysiology of TBI and that targeting acute mitochondrial events can result in long-term neuroprotection and improve behavioral outcome following brain injury.

Ischemic stroke is caused by acute neuronal degeneration provoked by interruption of cerebral blood flow. Although the mechanisms contributing to ischemic neuronal degeneration are myriad, mitochondrial dysfunction is now recognized as a pivotal event that can lead to either necrotic or apoptotic neuronal death. Lack of suitable 'upstream' targets to prevent loss of mitochondrial homeostasis has, so far, restricted the development of mechanistically based interventions to promote neuronal survival. Here, we show that the uncoupling agent 2,4 dinitrophenol (DNP) reduces infarct volume approximately 40% in a model of focal ischemia-reperfusion injury in the rat brain. The mechanism of protection involves an early decrease in mitochondrial reactive oxygen species formation and calcium uptake leading to improved mitochondrial function and a reduction in the release of cytochrome c into the cytoplasm. The observed effects of DNP were not associated with enhanced cerebral perfusion. These findings indicate that compounds with uncoupling properties may confer neuroprotection through a mechanism involving stabilization of mitochondrial function. Stroke occurs as a consequence of irreversible brain injury resulting from cerebral ischemia. Reduction or interruption of regional blood flow in the brain produces ischemic injury when delivery of metabolic substrates (glucose and oxygen) fails to meet the energy demand of the affected tissue. The actual blood flow rate at which local tissue ischemia is produced in the brain is variable, because cerebral metabolic demand varies from region to region and under different physiological conditions (Siesjö et al. 1995). While considerable progress has been made in the understanding of mechanisms contributing to neuronal injury following cerebral ischemia, the only approved therapy for the treatment of acute stroke remains the use of the thrombolytic agent, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) (Fisher and Ratan 2003). Timely administration of tPA will lyse intra-arterial thrombus, reperfuse ischemic brain, and hasten clinical recovery. However, the implementation of neuroprotective strategies targeted at intracellular pathways activated in the aftermath of blood-flow impediment remains elusive. To the present date, there is no mechanistically based treatment of ischemic neuronal injury that has been successfully validated in clinical trials, even after demonstration of efficacy in laboratory studies (DeGraba and Pettigrew 2000).While numerous 'cell death' pathways are activated following an episode of transient brain ischemia, the ability of neurons to maintain mitochondrial homeostasis seems to be a critical factor in the 'life/death' decision (Fiskum 2000;Zipfel et al. 2000). Two of the earliest events that can tip the balance in favor of neurodegeneration following transient ischemia are the accumulation of calcium (Ca 2+ ) and (Gunter et al. 1994;White and Reynolds 1996) and production of ROS are attenuated following a decrease in DY m (Korshunov et al. 1997;Liu 1997;...

Membrane depolarization activates voltage-dependent Ca 2+ channels (VDCCs) inducing Ca 2+ release via ryanodine receptors (RyRs), which is obligatory for skeletal and cardiac muscle contraction and other physiological responses. However, depolarization-induced Ca 2+ release and its functional importance as well as underlying signaling mechanisms in smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are largely unknown. Here we report that membrane depolarization can induce RyR-mediated local Ca 2+ release, leading to a significant increase in the activity of Ca 2+ sparks and contraction in airway SMCs. The increased Ca 2+ sparks are independent of VDCCs and the associated extracellular Ca 2+ influx. This format of local Ca 2+ release results from a direct activation of G protein-coupled, M 3 muscarinic receptors in the absence of exogenous agonists, which causes activation of Gq proteins and phospholipase C, and generation of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP 3 ), inducing initial Ca 2+ release through IP 3 receptors and then further Ca 2+ release via RyR2 due to a local Ca 2+ -induced Ca 2+ release process. These findings demonstrate an important mechanism for Ca 2+ signaling and attendant physiological function in SMCs.

Here we attempted to test a novel hypothesis that hypoxia may induce Ca 2+ release through reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated dissociation of FK506-binding protein 12.6 (FKBP12.6) from ryanodine receptors (RyRs) on the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). The results reveal that hypoxic exposure significantly decreased the amount of FKBP12.6 on the SR of PAs and increased FKBP12.6 in the cytosol. The colocalization of FKBP12.6 with RyRs was decreased in intact PASMCs. Pharmacological and genetic inhibition of intracellular ROS generation prevented hypoxia from decreasing FKBP12.6 on the SR and increasing FKBP12.6 in the cytosol. Exogenous ROS (H 2 O 2 ) reduced FKBP12.6 on the SR and augmented FKBP12.6 in the cytosol. Oxidized FKBP12.6 was absent on the SR from PAs pretreated with and without hypoxia, but it was present with a higher amount in the cytosol from PAs pretreated with than without hypoxia. Hypoxia and H 2 O 2 diminished the association of FKBP12.6 from type 2 RyRs (RyR2). The activity of RyRs was increased in PAs pretreated with hypoxia or H 2 O 2 . FKBP12.6 removal enhanced, whereas RyR2 gene deletion blocked the hypoxic increase in [Ca 2+