(Hypertension. 1998;32:939-944.)
© 1998 American Heart Association, Inc.
Scientific Contributions |
From the Department of Education and Medical Research, Veterans General HospitalTaipei (J.Y.H.C., W-C.C., H-Y.L.), and Center for Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University (S.H.H.C.), Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Correspondence to Julie Y.H. Chan, PhD, Department of Education and Medical Research, Veterans General HospitalTaipei, Taipei 11217, Taiwan, Republic of China. E-mail yhwa{at}vghtpe.gov.tw
| Abstract |
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Key Words: antisense elements baroreflex hypertension, genetic rats
| Introduction |
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The immediate early gene c-fos and its protein product, Fos, are now known to couple short-term transsynaptic events to long-term changes in cellular phenotype by regulation of gene expression in neurons.14 15 In this regard, an increase in systemic arterial pressure (SAP) induces the expression of Fos protein in the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS),16 17 18 the principal recipient of primary baroreceptor afferent fibers in the brain stem.19 We further reported17 20 that Fos expression in the NTS represents an early intracellular event that leads to long-term inhibitory modulation of BRR response. Whether Fos protein in the NTS plays a role in the manifestation of the reduced BRR response during hypertension is hitherto unknown.
The present study was performed to assess the hypothesis that an enhanced expression of Fos protein in the NTS is associated with the reduced BRR response during chronic hypertension, with the use of normotensive and genetically hypertensive rats. Our fundamental strategy was to block Fos expression in the NTS with an antisense oligonucleotide against c-fos mRNA and to examine the resultant alterations in BRR response, SAP, and HR. Our findings essentially validated the hypothesis and suggest a permissive role for c-fos gene at the NTS in the manifestation of a reduced BRR sensitivity during hypertension.
| Methods |
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General Preparation
Rats were anesthetized initially with pentobarbital
sodium (40 mg/kg IP) to perform intubation of the trachea and
cannulation of the right femoral artery and both femoral veins. Animals
received thereafter a continuous infusion of pentobarbital sodium (10
to 15 mg/kg per hour IV). This management scheme was found to provide
satisfactory anesthetic maintenance throughout the experiment
while preserving the capacity of central cardiovascular
regulation, including the BRR response.21
Pulsatile and mean systemic arterial pressure (MSAP), as well as HR, were recorded on a polygraph (Gould ES1000). Animals were mechanically ventilated to maintain the end-tidal CO2 to be within 4% to 5%, as monitored by a capnograph (Datex Normocap). All data were collected from animals with a maintained rectal temperature of 37±0.5°C throughout the experiment.
Microinjection of Oligonucleotides into the
NTS
Three 15-mer phosphorothioated c-fos
oligonucleotides (Quality System, Taipei, Taiwan) were
microinjected stereotaxically into the bilateral NTS as
described previously.17 20 22 23 The key
antisense oligonucleotide (ASON1) targets against a
region of the c-fos mRNA that flanks the initiation codon
(5'-129 to 1433'). Our treatment controls included a sense
c-fos oligonucleotide (SON) and an antisense
oligonucleotide (ASON2) that targets against the
initiation codon and a different portion of the coding sequence (5'-135
to 1493') of the c-fos mRNA. Animals that were surgically
prepared, placed in the stereotaxic headholder without
subsequent experimental treatments, and maintained by
intravenous infusion of pentobarbital for 120 minutes
served as the sham control. Animals that received microinjection of
artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) (pH 7.4) into the bilateral NTS
served as the volume and vehicle control.
Evaluation of BRR Response
The arterial baroreceptors were activated by
an increase in SAP evoked by infusion of phenylephrine for
30 minutes. Because of the difference in responsiveness to this
vasoactive agent between normotensive and hypertensive rats, the rate
of infusion was adjusted (5 to 7 µg/kg per hour IV) to maintain an
average elevation in SAP of 50 mm Hg. The slope of the regression
line that relates the reduction in HR with elevation in SAP during the
ramp phase of pressor response was taken as the experimental index for
BRR sensitivity. The maximal reflex bradycardia during the sustained
stage of pressor response was taken as the capacity of BRR control of
HR.
Immunohistochemical Staining and Quantification of Fos-Like
Immunoreactivity
At the conclusion of the physiological
experiments, animals were processed for immunohistochemical staining of
Fos protein, as described previously.17 18 20 A
sheep polyclonal antiserum (Genosys Biotechnologies OA-11824A;
1:4000) against c-fos was used, and Fos-like
immunoreactivity (Fos-LI) was visualized by a Vectastain ABC kit
(Vector). As a routine, sections from various strains of rats that
received the same treatment schedules were processed together for
Fos-LI. In control experiments, sections were incubated without the
anti-Fos antiserum or with substitution of Fos antiserum with normal
sheep serum. No specific immunoreactivity was observed in these control
sections when they were processed together with the experimental
tissues.
The criterion for identification of Fos-LI was a distinctly stained nucleus.16 17 18 20 22 23 The caudal medulla oblongata was divided into 8 levels, at 200-µm intervals, between 1.0 mm caudal and 0.4 mm rostral to the obex. Five sections were selected randomly from each level, and the number of Fos-LI was counted bilaterally by 2 individuals in a blinded fashion. The mean number of the Fos-positive cells for each level of the NTS was tabulated. We noted a good interobserver agreement, as evaluated by the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test (P=0.10, n=128).
Experimental Protocol
To delineate the physiological role of
c-fos at the NTS in BRR control of HR under normotensive and
hypertensive conditions, SD, WKY, SHR, and SHRSP received
microinjection into the bilateral NTS of aCSF, ASON1, ASON2, or SON.
The effects of each pretreatment on baseline SAP, HR, and BRR response
were evaluated 24 hours later. Animals were subsequently processed for
immunohistochemical detection of Fos-LI to verify the effectiveness of
oligonucleotide treatment.
The effects of ASON1, ASON2, or SON on the expression of Fos-LI after baroreceptor activation were examined in all 4 strains of rats. Each c-fos oligonucleotide or aCSF was microinjected directly into the bilateral NTS 24 hours before the introduction of 30 minutes of sustained increase in blood pressure. Animals were killed 120 minutes after baroreceptor activation, and brain sections were processed for Fos-LI in the NTS.
Statistical Analysis
All values are expressed as mean±SEM. One-way or 2-way ANOVA
was used, as appropriate, to assess the difference between experimental
groups. This was followed by the Scheffé multiple range test for
a posteriori comparison of individual means. P<0.05 was
considered statistically significant.
| Results |
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Compared with aCSF control, the maximal reflex bradycardia in response
to sustained increase in SAP was also significantly increased in SD,
WKY, SHR, and SHRSP after microinjection of ASON1 into the bilateral
NTS. Again, this indicated capacity of BRR control of HR was
discernibly greater in SHR or SHRSP (151% or 110%, respectively) than
in SD or WKY (76% or 66%, respectively) that were treated with ASON1.
Similar to the BRR slopes, there was a decrease in the capacity of BRR
control of HR in the SHR or SHRSP compared with normotensive SD or WKY
(Figure 1
). Microinjection of ASON1
bilaterally into the NTS also restored this reduced BRR capacity in SHR
and SHRSP to levels not different from those in the aCSF-treated SD or
WKY. The potentiation by ASON1 treatment of the maximal reflex
bradycardia was again significantly greater in SHR than in SHRSP.
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With adjustment of the rate of infusion, no significant difference (P=0.998) in the magnitude of pressor responses to systemic infusion of phenylephrine was detected among SD, WKY, SHR, and SHRSP.
Effect of ASON1 Antisense c-fos
Oligonucleotide Treatment on SAP and HR
Compared with aCSF control, microinjection of ASON1 into the
bilateral NTS resulted in a significant decrease in SAP and HR in SHR
and SHRSP (Table 2
), although the
respective SAP remained higher than that recorded from aCSF-treated
SD or WKY. In contrast, ASON1 treatment elicited no significant effect
on baseline SAP or HR in SD or WKY.
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Effect of ASON1 Antisense c-fos
Oligonucleotide Treatment on Fos-LI in the NTS Induced
by Sustained Increase in Blood Pressure
Sustained increase in blood pressure also induced expression of
Fos-LI in the NTS of SD, WKY, SHR, and SHRSP (Figure 2
). Those Fos-positive neurons
concentrated primarily at levels of the NTS that extended from 0.8
caudal to 0.2 rostral to the obex and exhibited similar topographic
distribution patterns. Quantitative analysis also revealed no
significant difference among these 4 strains of rats in the number of
Fos-positive nuclei detected in the caudal NTS after sustained increase
in SAP.
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Twenty-four hours after microinjection into the bilateral NTS of ASON1,
the Fos-LI normally induced in the NTS 120 minutes after sustained
increase in SAP was markedly retarded in SD, WKY, SHR, and SHRSP
(Figure 2
). Such a decrease in Fos expression was localized primarily
in the caudal part of the NTS. We ascertained that the appreciable
decrease in Fos-LI at the NTS was not due to false-negative reaction,
since Fos-LI was still demonstrated in the ventral lateral medulla in
animals that received ASON1 antisense oligonucleotide
treatment.
Effect of Control c-fos
Oligonucleotides on BRR Response, SAP, and HR
We verified the specificity of the observed biological activity of
ASON1 antisense c-fos oligonucleotide by
evaluating the effects of 2 control sequences of
oligonucleotide. Treatment with microinjection
bilaterally into the caudal NTS of the sense c-fos
oligonucleotide, similar to aCSF-treated animals,
resulted in no discernible alteration in the BRR sensitivity (Table 1
)
or capacity (Figure 1
) in all 4 strains of animals studied. Comparable
observations were obtained from treatment with an antisense
oligonucleotide (ASON2, 50 pmol) that targets against a
different site (5'-135 to 1493') of the c-fos mRNA (Figure 1
and Table 1
). In addition, we also found that bilateral
microinjection of the sense or ASON2 antisense c-fos
oligonucleotide into the NTS produced minimal effect on
SAP or HR in SD, WKY, SHR, or SHRSP (Table 2
).
Effect of Control c-fos
Oligonucleotides on Fos-LI in the NTS Induced by
Sustained Increase in Blood Pressure
Treatments with microinjection bilaterally into the caudal NTS of
sense c-fos oligonucleotide resulted in no
discernible effect on the number of Fos-positive cells in the NTS
induced by sustained increase in SAP (Figure 3
) in SD, WKY, SHR, or SHRSP. Similar
observations were made in animals that received treatment with ASON2
antisense cDNA (Figure 3
).
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Fos-LI in the NTS of Saline- and Sham-Control Animals
Intravenous infusion of saline alone resulted in much
less expression of Fos-LI in the NTS (Figure 2
) that was not
topographically distributed. Intriguingly, quantitative
analysis revealed the number of Fos-positive nuclei detected in
the NTS of SHR and SHRSP animals was appreciably higher than that found
in SD and WKY (Figure 2
). In the sham-control groups in which rats were
maintained under pentobarbital anesthesia and received
surgical operation alone, Fos-LI was scarce and distributed
sporadically among different levels of the NTS. Nonetheless, the
average number of Fos-positive nuclei detected per section in SD
(3.7±0.5, n=2) and WKY (4.2±0.8, n=2) was still discernibly less than
that found in SHR (13.5±2.1, n=3) and SHRSP (12.7±2.9, n=3).
| Discussion |
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Parallel to a recent study,26 we found that
sustained increase in blood pressure evoked a significant increment in
Fos-LI at the NTS of all strains of animals studied. These Fos-positive
neurons have been demonstrated to represent second-order
neurons in the BRR pathways.18 27 Detailed
examination revealed that whereas there was an
3-fold increase in
the number of Fos-positive NTS neurons in normotensive rats, a 2-fold
increase was detected in the hypertensive animals (Figure 2
). These
findings are in agreement with previous
reports11 12 28 in which a deficit in synaptic
transmission of baroreceptor afferents at the NTS has been put forth as
a possible mechanism. Our present results further indicate that
such a difference in the evoked response may also arise from an
elevated basal Fos expression in hypertensive rats. This notion,
however, is at variance with a recent report26
that basal Fos immunoreactivity in the NTS is similar between WKY and
SHR. The difference in anesthetic agents used may account for such a
discrepancy. As noted,26 fentanyl/midazolam used
in their study depresses the constitutive increase in Fos activity in
SHR. Furthermore, pentobarbital sodium reportedly exerts much less
suppressive effect on Fos immunoreactivity than
fentanyl/midazolam.29
Several pieces of evidence validate the significantly greater number of Fos-positive cells demonstrated in the NTS of hypertensive rats under basal physiological conditions. We detected comparable quantity of Fos-positive neurons in both sham-operated controls and SHR that received an infusion of saline. We also found that the enhanced basal expression of Fos protein in the NTS could be reversed to levels comparable to that in normotensive rats by microinjection of ASON1 into the bilateral NTS. Moreover, the same treatment restored the reduced BRR response in SHR and SHRSP animals to levels not different from those in normotensive rats.
Two studies30 31 in which antihypertensive agents
were used to treat hypertension indicate that reduction in SAP by
itself may directly potentiate the function of BRR. As such, it is
possible that restoration of BRR sensitivity by ASON1 in SHR and SHRSP
may result from the depressor effect of this antisense
oligonucleotide. This possibility, however, is deemed
unlikely since ASON1 treatment in SD and WKY potentiated BRR response
without significantly affecting basal SAP and HR. Furthermore,
bilateral application of ASON1 to the NTS elicited greater potentiation
of BRR response in SHR than SHRSP (Table 1
) while producing similar
degrees of hypotension and bradycardia (Table 2
).
The method we used to evaluate the sensitivity and capacity of BRR response is based on the activation of arterial baroreceptors by an increase in SAP induced by infusion of phenylephrine. To minimize the possibility of differential activation of the baroreceptors due to differences in the vascular responsiveness among the 4 strains of animals to this vasoactive agent, the rate of infusion was adjusted to maintain a similar increase in SAP. Since phenylephrine does not cross the blood-brain barrier,32 it is unlikely that the difference in total doses of phenylephrine that normotensive or hypertensive rats received was a potential confounder that affected the BRR sensitivity. We also acknowledge that by excluding animals that exhibited a MSAP <90 mm Hg for SD (n=2) or WKY (n=1) or <150 mm Hg for SHR (n=2) or SHRSP (n=2) in our experiments, possible confounding effects of surgical preparation and anesthesia might be overlooked. However, since there was no differential exclusion secondary to blood pressure of rats based on strain, the impact of surgical preparation and anesthesia alone on our present results was considered nominal.
In conclusion, our results suggest that an elevated basal expression of Fos protein in the NTS may contribute to the retarded BRR sensitivity detected during chronic hypertension.
| Acknowledgments |
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Received March 30, 1998; first decision April 13, 1998; accepted July 1, 1998.
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