Aims: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by an oxidant/antioxidant imbalance that promotes abnormal vascular responses. Reactive oxygen species, such as superoxide (O 2 -), contribute to the pathogenesis of PH and vascular responses, including vascular remodeling and inflammation. This study sought to investigate the protective role of a pharmacological catalytic antioxidant, a superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic (MnTE-2-PyP), in hypoxia-induced PH, vascular remodeling, and NALP3 (NACHT, LRR, and PYD domain-containing protein 3)-mediated inflammation. Results: Mice (C57/BL6) were exposed to hypobaric hypoxic conditions, while subcutaneous injections of MnTE-2-PyP (5 mg/kg) or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) were given 3 · weekly for up to 35 days. SOD mimetic-treated groups demonstrated protection against increased right ventricular systolic pressure, indirect measurements of pulmonary artery pressure, and RV hypertrophy. Vascular remodeling was assessed by Ki67 staining to detect vascular cell proliferation, a-smooth muscle actin staining to analyze small vessel muscularization, and hyaluronan (HA) measurements to assess extracellular matrix modulation. Activation of the NALP3 inflammasome pathway was measured by NALP3 expression, caspase-1 activation, and interleukin 1-beta (IL-1b) and IL-18 production. Hypoxic exposure increased PH, vascular remodeling, and NALP3 inflammasome activation in PBS-treated mice, while mice treated with MnTE-2-PyP showed an attenuation in each of these endpoints. Innovation: This study is the first to demonstrate activation of the NALP3 inflammasome with cleavage of caspase-1 and release of active IL-1 b and IL-18 in chronic hypoxic PH, as well as its attenuation by the SOD mimetic, MnTE-2-PyP. Conclusion: The ability of the SOD mimetic to scavenge extracellular O 2 -supports our previous observations in EC-SOD-overexpressing mice that implicate extracellular oxidant/antioxidant imbalance in hypoxic PH and implicates its role in hypoxia-induced inflammation.

The insulin receptor and type 1 insulin-like growth factor (IGF) receptor as classically described are each the product of a single gene. Various receptor subtypes have been described, however, with distinct structures or binding properties. Two of these subtypes have been studied, namely hybrid and atypical IGF-I receptors. Hybrid receptors contain aβ halves of both the insulin and the IGF receptor. They are identifiable as a high-affinity IGF-I-binding species reacting with both IGF-receptor-specific and insulin-receptor-specific monoclonal antibodies, and account for a substantial fraction of IGF receptor in many mammalian tissues. Hybrid receptors purified from human placenta bind IGF-I with approximately 25-fold higher affinity than insulin, the affinity for insulin being 10-fold less than that of the classical insulin receptor. It is therefore likely that hybrids will respond more readily to IGF-I than to insulin in vivo. Atypical IGF receptors are characterized by an ability to bind insulin as well as IGFs with relatively high affinity, but are immunologically indistinguishable from classical IGF receptor and do not react with insulin receptor-specific antibodies. The structural basis of atypical binding behaviour is unknown, though the effect is mimicked by binding of certain anti-IGF receptor monoclonal antibodies, which dramatically increase the affinity of the IGF receptor for insulin. Specific physiological roles have not been demonstrated for hybrid or atypical receptors, but the available information concerning their distribution and properties suggests that these receptor subtypes may have an important influence on the specificity of action of insulin and IGFs in vivo.

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