Regulation of NO-elicited pulmonary artery relaxation and guanylate cyclase activation by NADH oxidase and SOD

We have previously reported that inhibition of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD) in endothelium-removed bovine pulmonary arteries (BPA) attenuates nitrovasodilator-elicited relaxation and that a NADH oxidase linked to the redox status of cytosolic NADH is the major detectable source of superoxide (O-2) production in this tissue. In the present study, we investigated whether NADH oxidase-derived O-2 participated in inhibition of nitrovasodilator-elicited relaxation and soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulation. Lactate (10 mM) and pyruvate (10 mM) were employed to increase and decrease, respectively, NADH-dependent O-2 production in the BPA presumably by modulating cytosolic NAD(H) through the lactate dehydrogenase reaction. A 30-min pretreatment with 10 mM diethyldithiocarbamate (DETCA) was used to inhibit Cu/Zn SOD, and S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) was employed as a source of nitric oxide (NO). Lactate or pyruvate did not alter relaxation to NO. However, when the response to NO was inhibited by DETCA, lactate potentiated and pyruvate reduced the inhibitory effects of DETCA. SOD attenuated the inhibitory effects of DETCA plus lactate. In the presence of 10 microM SNAP, the activity of sGC in a BPA homogenate preparation (which was reconcentrated to approximate tissue conditions) was not altered by SOD. However, NADH (0.1 mM) decreased sGC activity by 70%, and this effect of NADH was attenuated in the presence of SOD. Thus cytosolic NADH redox and Cu/Zn SOD activity have important roles in controlling the inhibitory effects of O-2 derived from NADH oxidase on sGC activity and cGMP-mediated relaxation to nitrovasodilators in BPA.