Hypoxia impairs alveolar fluid reabsorption by promoting Na,K-ATPase endocytosis, from the plasma membrane of alveolar epithelial cells. The present study was designed to determine whether hypoxia induces Na,K-ATPase endocytosis via reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated RhoA activation. In A549 cells, RhoA activation occurred within 15 minutes of cells exposure to hypoxia. This activation was inhibited in cells infected with adenovirus coding for gluthatione peroxidase (an H 2 O 2 scavenger), in mitochondria depleted ( 0 ) cells or cells expressing decreased levels of the Rieske iron-sulfur protein (inhibitor of mitochondrial complex III), which suggests a role for mitochondrial ROS. Moreover, exogenous H 2 O 2 treatment during normoxia mimicked the effects of hypoxia on RhoA, further supporting a role for ROS. Cells expressing dominant negative RhoA failed to endocytose the Na,KATPase during hypoxia or after H 2 O 2 treatment. Na,KATPase endocytosis was also prevented in cells treated with Y-27632, a Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) inhibitor, and in cells expressing dominant negative ROCK. In summary, we provide evidence that in human alveolar epithelial cells exposed to hypoxia, RhoA/ROCK activation is necessary for Na,K-ATPase endocytosis via a mechanism that requires mitochondrial ROS. Journal of Cell Science 2215 RhoA and Na,K-ATPase endocytosis al., 2006;Dada et al., 2003). In the present study, we report that under hypoxic conditions mitochondrial ROS activate RhoA, and that the RhoA/ROCK regulate Na,K-ATPase endocytosis from the plasma membrane into intracellular compartments.
ResultsEffect of hypoxia on alveolar epithelial Na,K-ATPase We have previously described that exposing A549 cells to 1.5% O 2 for 60 minutes resulted in a decrease in plasma membrane Na,K-ATPase ␣ 1 expression by ~50%, while milder hypoxic conditions (3% O 2 ) induced similar results by 120 minutes (Dada et al., 2003). To characterize the specificity of the endocytic process we assessed the levels of plasma membrane transferrin receptor during hypoxia. The decrease in plasma membrane Na,K-ATPase protein levels appears to be specific since the levels of the transferrin receptor were unchanged as assessed by a biotinylation assay (Fig. 1A). It has been previously demonstrated that dynamin is a mediator of plasma membrane protein internalization (De Camilli et al., 1995). Here, we examined the ability of hypoxia to regulate Na,KATPase protein levels in cells transiently transfected with a plasmid coding for a GFP-tagged dominant negative dynamin-2 (DN-GFP-Dyn K44A). As depicted in Fig. 1B, we found hypoxia failed to induce a significant decrease in Na,K-ATPase protein expression at the plasma membrane in cells expressing the DN-dynamin, which suggests a role for dynamin in promoting Na,K-ATPase endocytosis.Actin disrupting agents prevent hypoxia-induced Na,KATPase endocytosis To determine whether actin organization was required for hypoxia-induced Na,K-ATPase endocytosis, A549 cells were pre-incubated with the actin-filament-disrupting ...