Involvement of calcineurin and PKB/Akt in development of hereditary hypertension

Hong, Yonggeun; Cho, Jae-hyun; Kim, Joo-heon

Korean Journal of Veterinary Research 2004;44(1):7-13.

Yonggeun Hong¹, Jae-hyun Cho², Joo-heon Kim³

¹Department of Internal Medicine-Cardiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
²Department of Psychiatry, University of Alabama at Birmingham
³College of Veterinary Medicine and Institute of Animal Medicine, Gyeongsang National University

유전적 고혈압 발병에 대한 Calcineurin 및 PKB/Akt의 연관성

홍용근¹, 조재현², 김주헌³

¹텍사스 사우스 웨스턴 메디칼센터 심장내과
²버밍헴 알라바마대학 정신의학과
³경상대학교 수의과대학 및 동물의학연구소

Abstract

Severe hypertension (>180 mmHg) develops in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) after 12 wk-old; however, it is not clear whether what kinds of molecular mechanism leads to altered cardiac performance following developmental stages in SHR. Also, although the effect of calcineurin (Cn) to promote cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in vivo and in vitro is established, its overall necessity as a hypertrophic mediator is currently an area of ongoing debate. Thus, we have examined i) body weight and blood pressure, ii) differences of expression and distribution of signaling molecules such as Cn, protein kinase B/Akt (PKB/Akt), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) between SHR and their age-matched control Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats following developmental stages. In 16 wk-old SHR compared with WKY, 2-dimentional echocardiography showed cardiac enlargement and hypertrophy of left ventricle, significantly. Taken together, we suggest that Cn is associated with hereditary cardiac hypertrophy, the process being related to the molecular signaling mechanisms involving PKB/Akt and ERK.

Key Words: spontaneously hypertensive rat, hypertension, hypertrophy, calcineurin, PKB/Akt, ERK