Many proteins are associated with the outer layer of the cell membrane through a posttranslationally added glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor. The functional significance of this type of protein linkage is unclear, although it results in increased lateral mobility, sorting to the apical surface of the cell, reinsertion into cell membranes, and possibly cell signaling. Here evidence is presented that GPI-linked proteins can undergo intermembrane transfer in vivo. GPI-linked proteins expressed on the surface of transgenic mouse red blood cells were transferred in a functional form to endothelial cells in vivo. This feature of GPI linkage may be potentially useful for the delivery of therapeutic proteins to vascular endothelium.

Vascular remodeling and rearrangement of the extracellular matrix formation are among the major adaptive mechanisms in response to a chronic blood pressure increase. Vasoactive peptides, such as endothelin, participate in hypertension-associated vascular fibrosis by stimulating collagen I formation and increasing contractility of arterial wall. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that activation of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor pathway mediates these events. Experiments were performed in transgenic mice harboring the luciferase gene under the control of the collagen I-alpha2 chain promoter. Endothelin induced a rapid phosphorylation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/ERK and increased collagen I gene activity in freshly isolated aortas. This effect of endothelin was totally inhibited by an endothelin receptor antagonist, an EGF receptor phosphorylation inhibitor, and a blocker of the MAPK/ERK cascade. In parallel experiments, inhibition of EGF receptor phosphorylation decreased the endothelin-induced pressor effect in isolated aortic rings and in anesthetized animals in vivo. In addition, the endothelin-induced increase of blood pressure was blunted in the waved-2 mice, a strain expressing functionally impaired EGF receptors. Our results provide the first evidence that the EGF receptor mediates at least two of the major actions of endothelin in the vascular tissue: contractility and fibrogenesis.

Both study groups reported similar visual phenomena. The difference between those who were bothered by the visual sensations and those who were not appears to be a function of individual tolerance. The visual sensations may be mitigated with minus-lens overcorrection.

Thromboxane A2 (TxA2) stimulates contraction of glomerular mesangial cells. However, mesangial cell TxA2 receptors have not been previously characterized. We therefore investigated TxA2 binding and TxA2-associated signal transduction pathways in rat glomerular mesangial cells using the specific thromboxane receptor agonist (1S-[1 alpha,2 beta(5Z),3 alpha-(1E,3S)4 alpha])-7-(3-[3-hydroxy-4-(p- iodophenoxy)-1-butenyl]7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-yl)-5-heptenoic acid (IBOP). In these cells, [125I]BOP binding was saturable, displaceable, and of high affinity. Scatchard analysis revealed a single class of binding sites with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 293 pM and a maximal density of binding sites (Bmax) of 33 fmol/mg protein. Specific binding was inhibited by the thromboxane agonist (15S)-hydroxy-11 alpha,9 alpha-(epoxymethano)prosta-5Z,13E-dienoic acid (U-46619) [inhibitor dissociation constant (Ki) = 297 nM] and the TxA2 receptor antagonists SQ 29548 (Ki = 1 nM) and (1R-[1 alpha(Z),2 beta,3 beta,5 alpha])-(+)-7-(5-[(1,1'-biphenyl)- 4-yl-methoxy]-3-hydroxy-2-(1-piperidinyl)cyclopentyl]-4-heptenoic acid (GR 32191) (Ki = 92 nM). Binding was also highly specific for thromboxane because prostaglandin E2 (Ki = 16 microM) and the inactive thromboxane metabolite, TxB2 (Ki = 41 microM), were approximately 1,000-fold less potent at inhibiting binding. IBOP stimulated phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis with an effective concentration of drug that produces 50% of the maximal response of 229 pM, which correlated well with the equilibrium Kd and enhanced phosphorylation of an acidic 80-kDa protein substrate for protein kinase C.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)