Cheng D, Zhu X, Gillespie DG, Jackson EK. Role of RACK1 in the differential proliferative effects of neuropeptide Y 1-36 and peptide YY and PYY1-36 stimulated proliferation. In SHR PGVSMCs, inhibitors of the G i/phospholipase C/PKC pathway (a pathway known to be organized by RACK1) attenuated the ability of NPY 1-36 to stimulate the proliferation of SHR PGVSMCs. Our results suggest that RACK1 modulates the ability of PGVSMCs to respond to the proliferative actions of NPY 1-36 and PYY1-36 and differences in RACK1 levels/ localization account for, in part, differential proliferative responses to NPY 1-36 and PYY1-36 in SHR vs. WKY PGVSMCs. Because dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors increase NPY 1-36 and PYY1-36 levels, our findings have implications for the use of such drugs in diabetic patients.receptor for activated C kinase 1; cell proliferation; preglomerular vascular smooth muscle cells; spontaneously hypertensive rats; WistarKyoto rats NEUROPEPTIDE Y1-36 (NPY1-36) and peptide YY 1-36 (PYY 1-36 ) are members of the pancreatic polypeptide-fold (PP-fold) family (6). Importantly, the kidney is likely exposed to biologically active levels of PP-fold peptides because 1) renal sympathetic varicosities release NPY 1-36 in response to CNS-mediated activation of renal sympathetic nerves (13); 2) NPY 1-36 is made by renal epithelial cells and released into the renal interstitium (22); and 3) fatty meals stimulate endocrine L-cells in the GI tract to release PYY 1-36 into the systemic circulation, producing physiologically active levels of PYY 1-36 in plasma (3,4,19,28,34,44,53), and this PYY 1-36 would be promptly delivered to the kidney via the bloodstream.The exposure of the kidney to pharmacologically active levels of NPY 1-36 or PYY 1-36 may have implications for renovascular structure and health. In this regard, our recent experiments indicate that both NPY 1-36 and PYY 1-36 stimulate the proliferation of preglomerular microvascular smooth muscle cells (PGVSMCs) obtained from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) via a mechanism involving activation of Y 1 receptors (26). In contrast, NPY 1-36 and PYY 1-36 exert little or no effect on proliferation of PGVSMCs obtained from normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). Thus, endogenous PP-fold peptides may have adverse effects on renovascular structure in genetic hypertension. However, the reason that NPY 1-36 and PYY 1-36 robustly stimulate proliferation of PGVSMCs only in PGVSMCs obtained from genetically susceptible kidneys is unclear. Thus, the focus of the current study was to investigate why SHR, but not WKY, PGVSMCs are responsive to the proliferative effects of NPY 1-36 and PYY 1-36 .Our previously published work demonstrates that Y 1 receptor expression is not different in preglomerular microvessels from SHR vs. WKY (15), so receptor expression differences are unlikely to account for the differential proliferative responses of SHR vs. WKY to NPY 1-36 and PYY . On the other hand, our previously published work does show that signaling via G i -linked receptors is...