EFFECTS OF H-7 (PROTEIN-KINASE INHIBITOR) AND PHORBOL ESTER ON AORTIC STRIPS FROM SPONTANEOUSLY HYPERTENSIVE RATS

We investigated the vascular responsiveness to vasoactive agents and the inhibition by H-7 (1-(5-isoquinoline-sulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine), which inhibits cyclic nucleotide-dependent protein kinases and protein kinase C(PKC) equally potently in helically cut strips of thoracic aortas from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). The susceptibility of norepinephrine (NE)- and angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced contractions to H-7 was significantly higher in the aortas from SHR than in those from WKY. H-7 decreased the contractile responses to KCl to a similar extent in both strains without affecting the high K+-stimulated Ca2+ influx. H-7 produced a shift to the right of the dose-response curve for the PKC activator, 12-o-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in the case of SHR aortas, while no such shift was noted in tissues from WKY. Functional alterations in the PKC branch of the Ca2 messenger system in vascular smooth muscle may play an important role in SHR during the sustained contraction. © 1990.