The Endothelial Nitric-oxide Synthase-Caveolin Regulatory Cycle

Nitric oxide production in the vascular endothelium is promoted by diverse agonists that transiently increase intracellular Ca2+ concentration and activate the endothelial nitric-oxide synthase (eNOS), a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent enzyme. eNOS is acylated by the fatty acids myristate and palmitate and is targeted thereby to plasmalemmal signal-transducing domains termed caveolae. eNOS enzyme activity is markedly attenuated by its interactions with caveolin, the structural scaffolding protein of caveolae. We have discovered that in living cells, the eNOS-caveolin heteromeric complex undergoes cycles of dissociation and re-association modulated by Ca2+-mobilizing agonists. Calcium ionophore A23187 and the muscarinic cholinergic agonist carbachol both promote the dissociation of eNOS from caveolin in cultured cells, associated with translocation of eNOS from caveolae. As Ca2+i returns to basal levels, eNOS re-associates with caveolin, and the inhibited enzyme complex is then restored to caveolae, a process accelerated by palmitoylation of the enzyme. These data establish an eNOS-caveolin regulatory cycle, wherein enzyme activation is modulated by reversible protein-protein interactions controlled by Ca2+/calmodulin and by enzyme palmitoylation. Alterations in this cycle are likely to have an important influence on nitric oxide-dependent signaling in the vascular wall. Nitric oxide production in the vascular endothelium is promoted by diverse agonists that transiently increase intracellular Ca2+ concentration and activate the endothelial nitric-oxide synthase (eNOS), a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent enzyme. eNOS is acylated by the fatty acids myristate and palmitate and is targeted thereby to plasmalemmal signal-transducing domains termed caveolae. eNOS enzyme activity is markedly attenuated by its interactions with caveolin, the structural scaffolding protein of caveolae. We have discovered that in living cells, the eNOS-caveolin heteromeric complex undergoes cycles of dissociation and re-association modulated by Ca2+-mobilizing agonists. Calcium ionophore A23187 and the muscarinic cholinergic agonist carbachol both promote the dissociation of eNOS from caveolin in cultured cells, associated with translocation of eNOS from caveolae. As Ca2+i returns to basal levels, eNOS re-associates with caveolin, and the inhibited enzyme complex is then restored to caveolae, a process accelerated by palmitoylation of the enzyme. These data establish an eNOS-caveolin regulatory cycle, wherein enzyme activation is modulated by reversible protein-protein interactions controlled by Ca2+/calmodulin and by enzyme palmitoylation. Alterations in this cycle are likely to have an important influence on nitric oxide-dependent signaling in the vascular wall. The endothelial isoform of nitric-oxide synthase (eNOS) 1The abbreviations used are: eNOS: endothelial isoform of nitric-oxide synthase; palm−, palmitoylation-deficient eNOS mutant; OG, octyl glucoside; mAchR, muscarinic acetylcholine receptor; IP, immunoprecipitation(s). is robustly expressed in the vascular endothelium and in cardiac myocytes, and the cellular regulation of eNOS may represent an important determinant of cardiovascular homeostasis (reviewed in Ref. 1Sase K. Michel T. Trends Cardiovasc. Med. 1997; 7: 25-34Crossref Scopus (84) Google Scholar). In endothelial cells and in cardiac myocytes, eNOS is targeted to specialized invaginations of the plasmalemma termed caveolae (2Feron O. Belhassen L. Kobzik L. Smith T.W. Kelly R.A. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1996; 271: 22810-22814Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (598) Google Scholar). Plasmalemmal caveolae serve as sites for the sequestration of signaling proteins and are further characterized by the presence of caveolin, an intrinsic membrane protein that forms a structural “scaffold,” organizing both proteins and lipids within this key membrane organelle (3Couet J. Li S. Okamoto T. Scherer P.E. Lisanti M.P. Trends Cardiovasc. Med. 1997; 4: 103-110Crossref Scopus (111) Google Scholar, 4Li S. Couet J. Lisanti M.P. J. Biol. Chem. 1996; 271: 29182-29190Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (674) Google Scholar). Caveolin directly interacts with several structurally distinct signaling proteins in caveolae, including G proteins and cellular oncogenes (4Li S. Couet J. Lisanti M.P. J. Biol. Chem. 1996; 271: 29182-29190Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (674) Google Scholar) as well as eNOS (2Feron O. Belhassen L. Kobzik L. Smith T.W. Kelly R.A. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1996; 271: 22810-22814Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (598) Google Scholar, 5Michel J.B. Feron O. Sacks D. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 15583-15586Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (512) Google Scholar, 6Ju H. Zou R. Venema V.J. Venema R.C. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 18522-18525Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (526) Google Scholar, 7Michel J.B. Feron O. Sase K. Prabhakar P. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 25907-25912Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (270) Google Scholar, 8Garcia-Cardena G. Martasek P. Masters B.S.M. Skidd P.M. Couet J. Li S. Lisanti M.P. Sessa W.C. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 25437-25440Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (694) Google Scholar, 9Feron O. Michel J.B. Sase K. Michel T. Biochemistry. 1998; 37: 193-200Crossref PubMed Scopus (116) Google Scholar). The activity of purified eNOS, a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent enzyme (10Marletta M.A. Cell. 1994; 78: 927-930Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (815) Google Scholar, 11Nathan C. Xie Q.-W. Cell. 1994; 78: 915-918Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (2753) Google Scholar), is markedly attenuated by its interaction with caveolin (5Michel J.B. Feron O. Sacks D. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 15583-15586Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (512) Google Scholar, 6Ju H. Zou R. Venema V.J. Venema R.C. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 18522-18525Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (526) Google Scholar, 7Michel J.B. Feron O. Sase K. Prabhakar P. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 25907-25912Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (270) Google Scholar, 8Garcia-Cardena G. Martasek P. Masters B.S.M. Skidd P.M. Couet J. Li S. Lisanti M.P. Sessa W.C. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 25437-25440Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (694) Google Scholar, 9Feron O. Michel J.B. Sase K. Michel T. Biochemistry. 1998; 37: 193-200Crossref PubMed Scopus (116) Google Scholar). We have also shown that purified Ca2+/calmodulin can overcome the inhibitory interaction between eNOS and caveolin in vitro(5Michel J.B. Feron O. Sacks D. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 15583-15586Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (512) Google Scholar, 7Michel J.B. Feron O. Sase K. Prabhakar P. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 25907-25912Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (270) Google Scholar, 9Feron O. Michel J.B. Sase K. Michel T. Biochemistry. 1998; 37: 193-200Crossref PubMed Scopus (116) Google Scholar), but the relevance of these observations to the dynamic regulation of eNOS in endothelial cells is less well understood. In vascular endothelial cells and in cardiac myocytes, the cycle of eNOS activation and deactivation is intimately coupled to the changes in intracellular Ca2+ that are promoted by stimulation of diverse G protein-coupled receptors (12Moncada S. Palmer R.M.J. Higgs E.A. Pharmacol. Rev. 1991; 43: 109-142PubMed Google Scholar, 13Vanhoutte P.M. Hypertension. 1989; 13: 658-667Crossref PubMed Scopus (610) Google Scholar). In this report, we describe a series of experiments that have explored the relationships between intracellular Ca2+ regulation and the dynamics of eNOS-caveolin interactions in living cells. We also document the role of eNOS palmitoylation in the reversible caveolar targeting of the eNOS-caveolin complex following muscarinic cholinergic stimulation. cDNA constructs encoding wild-type eNOS and the palmitoylation-deficient eNOS mutant (palm−) have previously been described (14Robinson L.J. Michel T. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1995; 92: 11776-11780Crossref PubMed Scopus (131) Google Scholar). A plasmid construct encoding the muscarinic m2 mAchR cDNA was obtained from T. I. Bonner (National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD) (15Bonner T.I. Buckley N.J. Young A.C. Brann M.R. Science. 1987; 237: 527-532Crossref PubMed Scopus (1220) Google Scholar). Bovine aortic endothelial cell and COS-7 cell culture conditions and cDNA transfection protocols were as described previously (2Feron O. Belhassen L. Kobzik L. Smith T.W. Kelly R.A. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1996; 271: 22810-22814Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (598) Google Scholar, 5Michel J.B. Feron O. Sacks D. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 15583-15586Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (512) Google Scholar, 9Feron O. Michel J.B. Sase K. Michel T. Biochemistry. 1998; 37: 193-200Crossref PubMed Scopus (116) Google Scholar). The recombinant expression of eNOS and of the m2 mAchR was verified by Western blot and specific muscarinic radioligand binding, respectively, as reported (16Feron O. Smith T.W Michel T. Kelly R.A. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 17744-17748Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (230) Google Scholar). Transfected COS-7 cells or endothelial cells were extensively washed with phosphate-buffered saline, harvested, pelleted by centrifugation, resuspended in OG buffer (60 mmol/liter OG, 50 mm Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, 125 mm NaCl, 2 mm dithiothreitol, 50 μm EGTA, and protease inhibitors (1 mg/ml leupeptin, 1 mg/ml pepstatin, and 1 mmphenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride)) and sonicated as described previously (2Feron O. Belhassen L. Kobzik L. Smith T.W. Kelly R.A. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1996; 271: 22810-22814Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (598) Google Scholar, 5Michel J.B. Feron O. Sacks D. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 15583-15586Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (512) Google Scholar, 9Feron O. Michel J.B. Sase K. Michel T. Biochemistry. 1998; 37: 193-200Crossref PubMed Scopus (116) Google Scholar). When cell fractionation was performed, cells were first lysed by sonication in a detergent-free hypotonic buffer and separated into soluble and particulate fractions by ultracentrifugation (100,000 × g, 1 h) (9Feron O. Michel J.B. Sase K. Michel T. Biochemistry. 1998; 37: 193-200Crossref PubMed Scopus (116) Google Scholar, 14Robinson L.J. Michel T. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1995; 92: 11776-11780Crossref PubMed Scopus (131) Google Scholar). Aliquots of cell homogenates were incubated with a rabbit caveolin-1 polyclonal antibody (lot 5, Transduction Labs) at a final concentration of 4 μg/ml; antibody titration experiments (not shown) documented that this concentration led to quantitative immunoprecipitation (IP) of caveolin from cell lysates. The isoform specificity and lack of cross-reactivity of these antibodies have been previously established (2Feron O. Belhassen L. Kobzik L. Smith T.W. Kelly R.A. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1996; 271: 22810-22814Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (598) Google Scholar, 5Michel J.B. Feron O. Sacks D. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 15583-15586Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (512) Google Scholar, 9Feron O. Michel J.B. Sase K. Michel T. Biochemistry. 1998; 37: 193-200Crossref PubMed Scopus (116) Google Scholar). After 1 h at 4 °C, protein G-Sepharose beads (50 μl of a 50% slurry) were added to the supernatant for a further 1-h incubation at 4 °C. Bound immune complexes were washed three times with OG buffer and then once with 50 mm Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, 150 mm NaCl. In some experiments, the supernatant fraction (remaining following pelleting of the protein G-Sepharose immune complexes) was precipitated by addition of trichloroacetic acid and buffered with a Tris-HCl solution, pH 7.4. The immunoprecipitates and/or the corresponding supernatant precipitates were then eluted by boiling in Laemmli sample buffer. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis on 7.5% polyacrylamide gels, immunoblotting with eNOS or caveolin antibodies (Transduction Labs), and chemiluminescent detection protocols were performed as described previously (2Feron O. Belhassen L. Kobzik L. Smith T.W. Kelly R.A. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1996; 271: 22810-22814Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (598) Google Scholar). As shown in Fig. 1, treatment of endothelial cells with the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 leads to the dissociation of caveolin from eNOS. The fraction of eNOS that is liberated from caveolin by Ca2+ ionophore treatment can be recovered in its entirety from the supernatant fraction following the caveolin immunoprecipitation; there is no change in the recovery of caveolin in these or the other drug treatments (Fig. 1, lower panel). Following addition of the Ca2+ chelator EGTA to the ionophore-activated cells, the eNOS-caveolin complex re-forms, as shown by the quantitative immunoprecipitation of eNOS by the caveolin antibody after Ca2+ chelation (Fig. 1, lanes labeled 75). The re-formation of the inhibitory eNOS-caveolin complex may represent a mechanism whereby the enzyme can become de-activated following the return of intracellular Ca2+ to basal levels. Prolonged agonist treatment of endothelial cells leads also to the translocation of eNOS from caveolae to a soluble subcellular compartment (17Michel T. Li G.K. Busconi L. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1993; 90: 6252-6256Crossref PubMed Scopus (305) Google Scholar, 18Dudek R. Wildhirt S. Suzuki H. Winder S. Bing R.J. Pharmacology. 1995; 50: 257-260Crossref PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar, 19Fukuda S.-I. Takaichi S. Naritomi H. Hashimoto N. Nagata I. Nozaki K. Kikuchi H. Brain Res. 1995; 696: 30-36Crossref PubMed Scopus (19) Google Scholar), but the role of caveolin in this enzyme translocation is entirely unknown. It seems plausible that this eNOS translocation represents a means for the desensitization of the enzyme upon prolonged agonist stimulation. We therefore examined the subcellular distribution of the eNOS-caveolin complex following treatment of endothelial cells with the Ca2+ ionophore. In resting endothelial cells, nearly all (>95%) of the eNOS is in the particulate subcellular fraction, and the enzyme can be almost quantitatively immunoprecipitated by antibodies directed against caveolin (Fig. 2). Following treatment of endothelial cells with Ca2+ ionophore and the consequent dissociation of the caveolin-eNOS complex, the newly liberated caveolin-free eNOS is now detected in both particulate and soluble subcellular fractions following differential ultracentrifugation. When the Ca2+ chelator EGTA is subsequently added, eNOS located in both the particulate and soluble subcellular fractions re-associates with caveolin, and the soluble complex is then re-targeted to caveolae, as shown in Fig. 2. Taken together, these data suggest a regulatory cycle in which agonist stimulation initially leads to eNOS activation by the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent disruption of the eNOS-caveolin heteromeric complex, followed later by enzyme translocation and re-formation of the inhibitory caveolin-eNOS heteromer; finally, this inactive complex is re-targeted to caveolae, ready for another round of agonist activation. Although the agonist-evoked modulation of caveolin-eNOS binding affinity may account for changes in the hydrophobicity of eNOS and explain, in part, the reversible translocation of eNOS to and from caveolae, such a mechanism also probably involves cycles of de-palmitoylation/re-palmitoylation of the enzyme. We have indeed previously reported that eNOS is targetedto plasmalemmal caveolae by palmitoylation (20Shaul P.W. Smart E.J. Robinson L.J. German Z. Yuhanna I.S. Ying Y. Anderson R.G.W. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1996; 271: 6518-6522Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (626) Google Scholar) but also that agonists promote enzyme de-palmitoylation leading to eNOS translocation from caveolae (21Robinson L.J. Busconi L. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1995; 270: 995-998Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (211) Google Scholar). Palmitoylation is a reversible post-translational modification characteristic of diverse signaling proteins targeted to caveolae and involves the addition of the 16-carbon fatty acid palmitate to specific cysteine residues within the protein. Palmitate is attached to signaling proteins via a labile thioester bond, and for eNOS as well as some other signaling proteins, agonist activation promotes de-palmitoylation and protein translocation from caveolae (21Robinson L.J. Busconi L. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1995; 270: 995-998Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (211) Google Scholar, 22Milligan G. Parenti M. Magee A.I. Trends Biochem. Sci. 1995; 20: 181-187Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (284) Google Scholar, 23Wedegaertner P.B. Wilson P.T. Bourne H.R. J. Biol. Chem. 1995; 270: 503-506Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (394) Google Scholar). eNOS undergoes palmitoylation at two cysteine residues (Cys15 and Cys26); mutagenesis of these residues to alanine reduces the overall affinity of the enzyme for biological membranes and attenuates the selective targeting of eNOS to caveolae (14Robinson L.J. Michel T. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1995; 92: 11776-11780Crossref PubMed Scopus (131) Google Scholar, 20Shaul P.W. Smart E.J. Robinson L.J. German Z. Yuhanna I.S. Ying Y. Anderson R.G.W. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1996; 271: 6518-6522Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (626) Google Scholar). However, the membrane-associated palm−mutant is still able to bind caveolin (9Feron O. Michel J.B. Sase K. Michel T. Biochemistry. 1998; 37: 193-200Crossref PubMed Scopus (116) Google Scholar), suggesting that this post-translational modification does not affect the eNOS-caveolin interaction per se, even if selective targeting of the palm− eNOS mutant to caveolae is impaired. We devised a series of experiments to explore further the relationships between eNOS palmitoylation, caveolin binding, and enzyme recycling following agonist activation and exploited a heterologous expression system in transiently transfected COS cells. To reconstitute the palm− eNOS mutant with a receptor-coupled eNOS pathway in COS cells, we co-transfected cDNA encoding either wild-type or palm− eNOS mutant, along with a cDNA construct encoding the m2 muscarinic cholinergic receptor (mAchR). We chose to study the m2 mAchR because (a) this receptor is well known to function in a physiologically important pathway that regulates eNOS activation in several cell types (12Moncada S. Palmer R.M.J. Higgs E.A. Pharmacol. Rev. 1991; 43: 109-142PubMed Google Scholar, 13Vanhoutte P.M. Hypertension. 1989; 13: 658-667Crossref PubMed Scopus (610) Google Scholar,16Feron O. Smith T.W Michel T. Kelly R.A. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 17744-17748Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (230) Google Scholar, 24Kelly R.A. Balligand J.-L. Smith T.W. Circ. Res. 1996; 79: 363-380Crossref PubMed Scopus (629) Google Scholar) and (b) this recombinant receptor has been extensively validated as an activator of phospholipase C (25Zhu X. Birnbaumer L. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1995; 93: 2827-2831Crossref Scopus (90) Google Scholar, 26Katz A. Wu D. Simon M.I. Nature. 1992; 360: 686-689Crossref PubMed Scopus (419) Google Scholar) leading to transient increases in intracellular Ca2+ levels (27Dell'Acqua M.L. Carroll R.C. Peralta E.G. J. Biol. Chem. 1993; 268: 5676-5685Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar, 28Ishizaka N. Noda M. Kimura Y. Hashii M. Fukuda K. Katayama M. Brown D.A. Higashida H. Pfluegers Arch. Eur. J. Physiol. 1995; 429: 426-433Crossref PubMed Scopus (13) Google Scholar). We found that the muscarinic agonist carbachol induces the dissociation of wild-type eNOS from caveolin in COS cells co-transfected with eNOS and m2 mAchR cDNAs; this process is agonist-dependent and is blocked by the cholinergic antagonist atropine (Fig. 3 A). The carbachol-induced dissociation of the eNOS-caveolin complex shows an appropriate agonist dose dependence, with an EC50 of ∼1 μm (Fig. 3, B and C). It must be emphasized that the eNOS released from the heteromeric immune complex with caveolin is recovered in the supernatant of the immunoprecipitations, indicating that the enzyme is released and not degraded following drug treatments (as shown in Figs. Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3). Having validated the pharmacological characteristics of this response, we next turned to a series of experiments the and dissociation of caveolin from wild-type and palm− eNOS the wild-type treatment of co-transfected COS cells with carbachol led to the dissociation of eNOS from the wild-type enzyme from caveolin within following the addition of after which the proteins were found to with the heteromeric complex entirely by (Fig. 4 A). Although this that with nitric oxide from the vascular endothelium in Z. Nature. 1992; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar), is to directly the of these because of the important in the transient following the of acetylcholine in is less the cellular by muscarinic cholinergic activation in there is a (27Dell'Acqua M.L. Carroll R.C. Peralta E.G. J. Biol. Chem. 1993; 268: 5676-5685Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar, 28Ishizaka N. Noda M. Kimura Y. Hashii M. Fukuda K. Katayama M. Brown D.A. Higashida H. Pfluegers Arch. Eur. J. Physiol. 1995; 429: 426-433Crossref PubMed Scopus (13) Google Scholar). We next performed a series of experiments, now the palm− eNOS mutant of the wild-type enzyme. In to the wild-type even to agonist addition a fraction of the palm−mutant is found with caveolin, with the targeting to caveolae in the resting However, after the addition of the fraction of the palm− mutant that been to caveolin and within no heteromeric eNOS complex be as for the wild-type and the entirety of the eNOS be recovered in the supernatant (Fig. 4 However, at this the palm− eNOS mutant shows a from the wild-type the re-association of the complex is markedly In to the wild-type eNOS, in which the entirety of the enzyme is recovered in a heteromeric complex within the palm− mutant shows a re-formation of the a process in its and at a after the addition of is no change in Ca2+ between COS cells transfected with the palm− mutant eNOS not We therefore this in the of re-formation of the heteromeric palm− eNOS-caveolin complex to the role for in the of eNOS to caveolae, thereby the protein-protein interactions between eNOS and caveolin that the heteromeric complex to In we have shown for the first in cells that the eNOS-caveolin complex can be and subsequently restored following agonist associated with the reversible translocation of the enzyme. We therefore the of a dynamic cycle of eNOS-caveolin interactions by increases in Ca2+i that the caveolin-eNOS complex, leading to enzyme activation. Following prolonged agonist eNOS is (21Robinson L.J. Busconi L. Michel T. J. Biol. Chem. 1995; 270: 995-998Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (211) Google Scholar) and is no in caveolae. The enzyme probably both into membrane and into of the the of which has not been to the translocation into this cell compartment and following the in Ca2+i to basal levels, caveolin may once with eNOS, leading to enzyme The re-association of eNOS with caveolin may either at the membrane or in the which caveolin complexes may between caveolae and an caveolar (3Couet J. Li S. Okamoto T. Scherer P.E. Lisanti M.P. Trends Cardiovasc. Med. 1997; 4: 103-110Crossref Scopus (111) Google Scholar, P. R. H. M. K. J. Biol. 1992; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, Smart Ying Anderson R.G.W. G. J. Biol. 1995; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). The re-association and of the heteromeric eNOS-caveolin complex to be accelerated by enzyme palmitoylation, which either within caveolae or to this The of eNOS and of the enzyme in the caveolar ready for another cycle of stimulation by agonists. dynamic cycle of eNOS intracellular regulation another of to the post-translational of this signaling protein and may represent an important for the modulation of signaling in the vascular wall.