NADPH oxidase modulates myocardial Akt, ERK1/2 activation, and angiogenesis after hypoxia-reoxygenation

Recent studies have demonstrated that reactive oxygen species ( ROS) mediate myocardial ischemia-reperfusion ( I/R) and angiogenesis via the mitogen-activated protein kinases and the serine-threonine kinase Akt/protein kinase B pathways. NADPH oxidases are major sources of ROS in endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes. In the present study, we investigated the role of NADPH oxidase-derived ROS in hypoxia-reoxygenation ( H/R)-induced Akt and ERK1/2 activation and angiogenesis using porcine coronary artery endothelial cells ( PCAECs) and a mouse myocardial I/R model. Our data demonstrate that exposure of PCAECs to hypoxia for 2 h followed by 1 h of reoxygenation significantly increased ROS formation. Pretreatment with the NADPH oxidase inhibitors, diphenyleneiodonium ( DPI, 10 mu M) and apocynin ( Apo, 200 and 600 mu M), significantly attenuated H/R-induced ROS formation. Furthermore, exposure of PCAECs to H/R caused a significant increase in Akt and ERK1/2 activation. Exposure of PCAEC spheroids and mouse aortic rings to H/R significantly increased endothelial spheroid sprouting and vessel outgrowth, whereas pharmacological inhibition of NADPH oxidase or genetic deletion of the NADPH oxidase subunit, p47(phox) ( p47(phox-/-)), significantly suppressed these changes. With the use of a mouse I/R model, our data further show that the increases in myocardial Akt and ERK1/2 activation and vascular endothelial growth factor ( VEGF) expression were markedly blunted in the p47(phox-/-) mouse subjected to myocardial I/R compared with the wild-type mouse. Our findings underscore the important role of NADPH oxidase and its subunit p47(phox) in modulating Akt and ERK1/2 activation, angiogenic growth factor expression, and angiogenesis in myocardium undergoing I/R.