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First paragraph (this article has no abstract) Persistent stimulation of nociceptors results in sensitization of nociceptive sensory neurons, which is associated with hyperalgesia and allodynia. The release of NO and subsequent synthesis of cGMP in the spinal cord are involved in this process. cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (PKG-I) has been suggested to act as a downstream target of cGMP, but its exact role in nociception hadn't been characterized yet. To further evaluate the NO/cGMP/PKG-I pathway in nociception we assessed the effects of PKG-I inhibiton and activaton in the rat formalin assay and analyzed the nociceptive behavior of PKG-I-/- mice. Open access article.
Background Endothelium-derived nitric oxide plays an important role for the bone marrow microenvironment. Since several important effects of nitric oxide are mediated by cGMP-dependent pathways, we investigated the role of the cGMP downstream effector cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (cGKI) on postnatal neovascularization. Methodology/Principal Findings In a disc neovascularization model, cGKI -/- mice showed an impaired neovascularization as compared to their wild-type (WT) littermates. Infusion of WT, but not cGKI -/- bone marrow progenitors rescued the impaired ingrowth of new vessels in cGKI-deficient mice. Bone marrow progenitors from cGKI -/- mice showed reduced proliferation and survival rates. In addition, we used cGKI alpha leucine zipper mutant (LZM) mice as model for cGKI deficiency. LZM mice harbor a mutation in the cGKI alpha leucine zipper that prevents interaction with downstream signaling molecules. Consistently, LZM mice exhibited reduced numbers of vasculogenic progenitors and impaired neovascularization following hindlimb ischemia compared to WT mice. Conclusions/Significance Our findings demonstrate that the cGMP-cGKI pathway is critical for postnatal neovascularization and establish a new role for cGKI in vasculogenesis, which is mediated by bone marrow-derived progenitors.
Protein turnover and quality control by the proteasome is of paramount importance for cell homeostasis. Dysfunction of the proteasome is associated with aging processes and human diseases such as neurodegeneration, cardiomyopathy, and cancer. The regulation, i.e. activation and inhibition of this fundamentally important protein degradation system, is still widely unexplored. We demonstrate here that the evolutionarily highly conserved type II triple-A ATPase VCP and the proteasome inhibitor PSMF1/PI31 interact directly, and antagonistically regulate proteasomal activity. Our data provide novel insights into the regulation of proteasomal activity.