Endothelial cell regulation of nitric oxide production during hypoxia in coronary microvessels and epicardial arteries

Nitric oxide (NO) synthesized by endothelial cell nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) elicits vasodilation of resistance‐sized coronary microvessels. Since coronary blood flow increases during hypoxia, we tested the hypotheses that: (1) hypoxia results in increased blood flow through increased NO production mediated by the upregulation of both eNOS mRNA and protein and (2) the regulation of NO production in response to hypoxia differs in microvascular endothelial cells and nonresistance, epicardial endothelial cells. Monocultures of vascular endothelium from resistance (∼100 μ) and nonresistance epicardial arteries were established and characterized. Nitric oxide was quantitated using a chemiluminescence method. Hypoxia (pO2 = 10 mmHg) significantly increased NO production in both cell lines, with less NO produced in microvascular endothelium. Western blots demonstrated that hypoxia caused a time‐dependent increase in eNOS protein in both lines, with an average 2.5‐fold increase in nonresistance, epicardial endothelial cells compared to an average 1.7‐fold increase in protein from microvascular endothelium. Total mRNA recovery increased 2.4 ± 0.6‐fold within 30 min of hypoxia in nonresistance, epicardial endothelial cells with no increase in microvascular endothelial cells. Although hypoxia increased NO production in both populations of endothelial cells, the increase in NO production and eNOS protein in microvascular endothelium was less compared to nonresistance, epicardial endothelial cells. Furthermore, there was no significant upregulation of total mRNA for eNOS in microvascular endothelium. The data indicate that increased NO production in microvascular endothelium during hypoxia may be through translational or posttranslational modifications of the enzyme, whereas transcriptional upregulation may account for the increased NO production in nonresistance, epicardial endothelial cells. Oxygen‐sensitive response mechanisms that modulate NO production may be different in endothelium from different coronary artery vascular beds. J. Cell. Physiol. 182:359–365, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.