NAD(P)H oxidase contributes to the pathogenesis of cancer and cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, restenosis, cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. Plumbagin, a plant-derived naphthoquinone, has been shown to exert anticarcinogenic and anti-atherosclerosis effects in animals. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects remain unknown. It is possible that the beneficial effect of plumbagin is due to the inhibition of NAD(P)H oxidase. Human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) and brain tumour LN229 cells express mainly Nox-4, a renal NAD(P)H oxidase. We have examined the effect of plumbagin on Nox-4 activity in HEK293 and LN229 cells using lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence assay. Plumbagin inhibited the activity of Nox-4 in a time- and dose-dependent manner in HEK293 and LN229 cells. Production of superoxide in HEK293 cells was inhibited by diphenyleneiodonium (DPI), a NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor. The superoxide production in HEK293 cells was NADPH- and NADH-dependent indicating that the superoxide was generated by a NAD(P)H oxidase in HEK293 cells, but not by the redox-cycling of lucigenin. Furthermore, plumbagin inhibited the superoxide production in Nox-4 transfected COS-7 cells. These results indicated that plumbagin directly interacted with Nox-4 and inhibited its activity.

The mechanical properties of tissues and cells including renal glomeruli are important determinants of their differentiated state, function, and responses to injury but are not well characterized or understood. Understanding glomerular mechanics is important for understanding renal diseases attributable to abnormal expression or assembly of structural proteins and abnormal hemodynamics. We use atomic force microscopy (AFM) and a new technique, capillary micromechanics, to measure the elastic properties of rat glomeruli. The Young's modulus of glomeruli was 2,500 Pa, and it was reduced to 1,100 Pa by cytochalasin and latunculin, and to 1,400 Pa by blebbistatin. Cytochalasin or latrunculin reduced the F/G actin ratios of glomeruli but did not disrupt their architecture. To assess glomerular biomechanics in disease, we measured the Young's moduli of glomeruli from two mouse models of primary glomerular disease, Col4a3−/− mice (Alport model) and Tg26HIV/nl mice (HIV-associated nephropathy model), at stages where glomerular injury was minimal by histopathology. Col4a3−/− mice express abnormal glomerular basement membrane proteins, and Tg26HIV/nl mouse podocytes have multiple abnormalities in morphology, adhesion, and cytoskeletal structure. In both models, the Young's modulus of the glomeruli was reduced by 30%. We find that glomeruli have specific and quantifiable biomechanical properties that are dependent on the state of the actin cytoskeleton and nonmuscle myosins. These properties may be altered early in disease and represent an important early component of disease. This increased deformability of glomeruli could directly contribute to disease by permitting increased distension with hemodynamic force or represent a mechanically inhospitable environment for glomerular cells.

The Ca 2؉ -sensing receptor (CaR) regulates salt and water transport in the kidney as demonstrated by the association of gain of function CaR mutations with a Bartter syndrome-like, salt-wasting phenotype, but the precise mechanism for this effect is not fully established. We found previously that the CaR interacts with and inactivates an inwardly rectifying K ؉ channel, Kir4.1, which is expressed in the distal nephron that contributes to the basolateral K ؉ conductance, and in which loss of function mutations are associated with a complex phenotype that includes renal salt wasting. We now find that CaR inactivates Kir4.1 by reducing its cell surface expression. Mutant CaRs reduced Kir4.1 cell surface expression and current density in HEK-293 cells in proportion to their signaling activity. Mutant, activated G␣ q reduced cell surface expression and current density of Kir4.1, and these effects were blocked by RGS4, a protein that blocks signaling via G␣ i and G␣ q . Other ␣ subunits had insignificant effects. Knockdown of caveolin-1 blocked the effect of G␣ q on Kir4.1, whereas knockdown of the clathrin heavy chain had no effect. CaR had no comparable effect on the renal outer medullary K ؉ channel, an apical membrane distal nephron K ؉ channel that is internalized by clathrin-coated vesicles. Co-immunoprecipitation studies showed that the CaR and Kir4.1 physically associate with caveolin-1 in HEK cells and in kidney extracts. Thus, the CaR decreases cell surface expression of Kir4.1 channels via a mechanism that involves G␣ q and caveolin. These results provide a novel molecular basis for the inhibition of renal NaCl transport by the CaR.Sodium transport in the distal nephron determines body volume and blood pressure as demonstrated by the fact that mutations in genes expressed in this region of the kidney can cause either salt retention and high blood pressure or salt wasting and low blood pressure (1). A number of genetically distinct syndromes caused by abnormalities of transport proteins expressed in the distal nephron lead to phenotypes characterized by salt wasting. Bartter syndrome can result from loss of function mutations of the NaK 2 Cl co-transporter (NKCC2), 2 the renal outer medullary K ϩ channel (ROMK or Kir1.1), or the ClC-Kb (basolateral Cl Ϫ channel). A variant also characterized by sensorineural deafness is caused by loss of function mutations in an accessory protein for ClC-Kb, barttin (Bartter syndrome neuraosensory deafness or BSND) (1-5). The hypocalciuric, hypomagnesemic variant of Bartter syndrome, Gitelman syndrome, is due to loss of function mutations of the thiazide-sensitive NaCl co-transporter (6). The recently described SeSAME (seizures, sensorineural deafness, ataxia, mental retardation, and electrolyte imbalance) or EAST (epilepsy, ataxia, sensorineural deafness, and tubulopathy) syndrome is caused by loss of function mutations in Kir4.1 (KCNJ10), an inwardly rectifying K ϩ channel that is expressed in the basolateral membrane of the distal nephron (7-10). Presumably, reduced acti...

Abstract-Internalization of a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) is essential to the desensitization, endocytosis, and signal transduction of the receptor. It has been the general view that conventional homologous internalization of a GPCR requires activation of the G-protein(s) coupled to the receptor. However, whether and how GPCR-mediated G-protein-independent signals trigger receptor internalization remains unknown, although G-protein-independent internalization has been reported. Here we show that an angiotensin II (Ang II) type-1 (AT 1 ) receptor mutant incapable of activating any G-protein still undergoes normal internalization. Substitution of Asp 125 with Ala and Arg 126 with Leu at the highly conserved DRY motif of the AT 1 receptor disabled the ability of the receptor to activate G-proteins, as shown by various Ang II binding studies, GDP-GTP exchange, and inositol phosphate production assays. Surprisingly, the mutant internalized normally in the presence of Ang II and transactivated the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Similar to the wild-type receptor, overexpression of a dominant-negative K220R mutant GRK2 diminished the internalization of D125A-R126L but not the transactivation of EGFR. These data indicate that G-protein-independent specific signals may also trigger homologous internalizations of the AT 1 receptor through ␤-arrestin-dependent and -independent pathways, suggesting a possible mechanism for G-protein-independent activation of G-protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs). This may represent a general mechanism for triggering GPCR internalization.