Cell biology of atrial natriuretic peptide

Increased cyclic guanosine monophosphate production and overexpression of atrial natriuretic peptide A-receptor mRNA in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) specifically stimulates particulate guanylate cyclase, and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) has been recognized as its second messenger. Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) have elevated plasma ANP levels, but manifest an exaggerated natriuretic and diuretic response to exogenous ANP when compared to normotensive strains. In isolated glomeruli, the maximal cGMP response to ANP corresponds to a 12- to 14-fold increase over basal levels in normotensive strains (Wistar 13 +/- 2; Wistar-Kyoto 12 +/- 2; Sprague-Dawley 14 +/- 2) while a maximal 33 +/- 3-fold elevation occurs in SHR (P < 0.001). This hyperresponsiveness of cGMP is reproducible in intact glomeruli from SHR from various commercial sources. Furthermore, this abnormality develops early in life, even before hypertension is clearly established, and persists despite pharmacological modulation of blood pressure, indicating that it is a primary event in hypertension. In vitro studies have revealed a higher particulate guanylate cyclase activity in membranes from glomeruli and other tissues from SHR. This increase is not accounted for by different patterns of ANP binding to its receptor subtypes between normotensive and hypertensive strains, as assessed by competitive displacement with C-ANP102-121, an analog which selectively binds to one ANP receptor subtype. The hyperactivity of particulate guanylate cyclase in SHR and its behavior under basal, ligand (ANP), and detergent-enhanced conditions could be attributed either to increased expression or augmented sensitivity of the enzyme. Radiation-inactivation analysis does not evoke a disturbance in the size of regulatory elements normally repressing enzymatic activity, while the expression of particulate guanylate cyclase gene using mutated standard of A- and B-receptors partial cDNAs, quantified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) transcript titration assay, manifests a selective increase of one guanylate cyclase subtype. Our data suggest that in hypertension, genetic overexpression of the ANP A-receptor subtype is related to the exaggerated biological response to ANP in this disease.

Volume status influences atrial peptide-induced water conductivity changes in leopard frog mesenteric capillaries

1. Three sets of North American leopard frogs (Rana pipiens) were housed on damp sand (DS, n = 19), in fresh water (FW, n = 19), or with free access to both damp sand and fresh water (FA, n = 23) for a period of 5-6 days. At the end of this period pithed frogs were prepared for measurement of capillary hydraulic conductivity and samples of whole-blood, lymph and body cavity fluid were collected for measurement of haematocrit and protein content. 2. To measure hydraulic conductivity (Lp), individual capillaries of the mesenteries of the three groups were cannulated and perfused with a minimum of two, and a maximum of three, frog Ringer solutions. The first solution, common to all experiments, contained dialysed bovine serum albumin (BSA) at a concentration of 10 mg ml-1. The second and third solutions also contained either 10 nM-atrial peptide (AP) or 1 microM-sodium nitroprusside (SNP). Lp was determined from measurements of fluid filtration rate at a minimum of two different capillary pressures (Michel, Mason, Curry, Tooke & Hunter, 1974). 3. In vessels from damp sand-stored frogs (DS), the paired Lp in the presence of 10 nM-atrial peptide (Lp, AP) was 3.2 +/- 0.4-fold higher than Lp, BSA (n = 25). By contrast, in the FW group, Lp, AP did not differ significantly from Lp, BSA (Lp, AP-FW/Lp, BSA = 1.3 +/- 0.2; n = 23). In frogs given free access to water and dry terrain the response to atrial peptide was similar to that observed in the DS group (Lp, AP-FA/Lp, BSA = 3.6 +/- 07; n = 23). Thus, storage in fresh water appears to have inhibited the acute Lp response to atrial peptide observed in vessels from the FA or DS animals. 4. Atrial peptide and sodium nitroprusside elevate intracellular cyclic GMP levels by membrane receptor-dependent and -independent processes, respectively. No difference was observed in the Lp response to 1 microM-perfusate sodium nitroprusside (Lp, SNP) in DS (n = 7), FW (n = 8) or FA (n = 30) frogs (Lp, SNP/Lp, BSA ratios were 3.5 +/- 1.5-, 2.7 +/- 0.8- and 2.6 +/- 0.5-fold, respectively). Thus, the Lp response to sodium nitroprusside was not affected by storage conditions. 5. The mean haematocrit of skin blood samples from the DS groups was 26.5 +/- 1.0% (+/- S.E.M.) compared to 19.1 +/- 1.2% from the FW groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)