Rationale Nitric oxide, the classic endothelial derived relaxing factor (EDRF), acts via cyclic GMP and calcium without notably affecting membrane potential. A major component of EDRF activity derives from hyperpolarization and is termed endothelial derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF). Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a prominent EDRF, since mice lacking its biosynthetic enzyme, cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE), display pronounced hypertension with deficient vasorelaxant responses to acetylcholine. Objective The purpose of this study is to determine if H2S is a major physiologic EDHF. Methods and Results We now show that H2S is a major EDHF, as in blood vessels of CSE deleted mice hyperpolarization is virtually abolished. H2S acts by covalently modifying (sulfhydrating) the ATP-sensitive potassium channel, as mutating the site of sulfhydration prevents H2S-elicited hyperpolarization. The endothelial intermediate conductance (IKCa) and small conductance (SKCa) potassium channels mediate in part the effects of H2S, as selective IKCa and SKCa channel inhibitors, charybdotoxin and apamin, inhibit glibenclamide insensitive H2S induced vasorelaxation. Conclusions H2S is a major EDHF that causes vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cell hyperpolarization and vasorelaxation by activating the ATP-sensitive, intermediate conductance and small conductance potassium channels through cysteine S-sulfhydration. As EDHF activity is a principal determinant of vasorelaxation in numerous vascular beds, drugs influencing H2S biosynthesis offer therapeutic potential.

PIK3CA, one of the two most frequently mutated oncogenes in human tumors, codes for p110alpha, the catalytic subunit of a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, isoform alpha (PI3Kalpha, p110alpha/p85). Here, we report a 3.0 angstrom resolution structure of a complex between p110alpha and a polypeptide containing the p110alpha-binding domains of p85alpha, a protein required for its enzymatic activity. The structure shows that many of the mutations occur at residues lying at the interfaces between p110alpha and p85alpha or between the kinase domain of p110alpha and other domains within the catalytic subunit. Disruptions of these interactions are likely to affect the regulation of kinase activity by p85 or the catalytic activity of the enzyme, respectively. In addition to providing new insights about the structure of PI3Kalpha, these results suggest specific mechanisms for the effect of oncogenic mutations in p110alpha and p85alpha.