stores with cyclopiazonic acid, and on UTP-induced ROCE in isolated, endothelium-denuded, pressurized pulmonary arteries (213 Ϯ 8 m inner diameter) from control and CH (4 wk at 0.5 atm) rats. Arteries were loaded with fura-2 AM to continuously monitor VSM [Ca 2ϩ ]i. We found that the change in [Ca 2ϩ ]i associated with SOCE and ROCE was significantly reduced in vessels from CH animals. Furthermore, spermine NONOate diminished SOCE and ROCE in vessels from control, but not CH animals. We conclude that NOmediated inhibition of SOCE and ROCE is impaired after CH-induced pulmonary hypertension. pulmonary hypertension; capacitative calcium entry; uridine 5Ј-triphosphate; protein kinase G; NiCl 2; SKF-96365; nitric oxide ENDOTHELIUM-DERIVED NITRIC OXIDE (EDNO) may play an important protective role in diminishing the severity of chronic hypoxia (CH)-induced pulmonary hypertension (9,35). CH is associated with enhanced EDNO-dependent vasodilation, a function of elevated endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression (9,20,28,29,32,37) and increased pulmonary vascular smooth muscle (VSM) sensitivity to nitric oxide (NO) (16). Moreover, this enhanced VSM reactivity to NO following CH correlates with increased expression and activity of the downstream effector, protein kinase G (PKG) (15). Interestingly, the augmented NO-dependent vasodilation after CH is coupled to a smaller decrease in VSM intracellular free calcium ([Ca 2ϩ ] i ) compared with vessels from control animals (16), suggesting that CH promotes a change in NO signaling resulting in less dependence on Ca 2ϩ handling pathways such as Ca 2ϩ sequestration, influx, or efflux and greater dependence on mechanisms that regulate Ca 2ϩ sensitivity. Consistent with this possibility, recent studies from our laboratory indicate that spermine NONOate reverses Ca 2ϩ sensitization generated by the small G protein, RhoA, and Rho kinase (ROK) in permeabilized small pulmonary arteries from CH but not control animals (17). However, the mechanism by which CH impairs NOdependent decreases in VSM [Ca 2ϩ ] i remains to be investigated and is the focus of the current study.NO-mediated stimulation of PKG elicits relaxation through several mechanisms that result in either a decrease in [Ca 2ϩ ] i or a decrease in the sensitivity of the contractile apparatus to Ca 2ϩ (2). Ca 2ϩ entry into VSM cells is mediated by voltageoperated Ca 2ϩ channels (30) as well as several types of Ca 2ϩ -permeable channels that are not voltage gated. These include channels mediating store-operated Ca 2ϩ entry (SOCE), activated by depletion of Ca 2ϩ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), and receptor-operated Ca 2ϩ entry (ROCE), commonly activated by agonist stimulation of G protein-coupled receptors (23). We hypothesized that CH impairs NO-mediated decreases in pulmonary VSM [Ca 2ϩ ] i by interfering with PKG-dependent inhibition of either SOCE or ROCE. To test this hypothesis, we measured changes in [Ca 2ϩ ] i and inner diameter (ID) elicited by SOCE and ROCE in isolated, endothelium-denuded...