Smooth muscle Acid-sensing ion channel 1a as a therapeutic target to reverse hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.

Acid-sensing ion channel 1a (ASIC1a) is a voltage-independent, non-selective cation channel that conducts both Na ⁺ and Ca ²⁺ . Activation of ASIC1a elicits plasma membrane depolarization and stimulates intracellular Ca ²⁺ -dependent signaling pathways in multiple cell types, including vascular smooth muscle (SM) and endothelial cells (ECs). Previous studies have shown that increases in pulmonary vascular resistance accompanying chronic hypoxia (CH)-induced pulmonary hypertension requires ASIC1a to elicit enhanced pulmonary vasoconstriction and vascular remodeling. Both SM and EC dysfunction drive these processes; however, the involvement of ASIC1a within these different cell types is unknown. Using the Cre-LoxP system to generate cell-type-specific Asic1a knockout mice, we tested the hypothesis that SM- Asic1a contributes to CH-induced pulmonary hypertension and vascular remodeling, whereas EC- Asic1a opposes the development of CH-induced pulmonary hypertension. The severity of pulmonary hypertension was not altered in mice with specific deletion of EC- Asic1a (Tek ^Cre - Asic1a ^fl/fl ). However, similar to global Asic1a knockout ( Asic1a ^-/- ) mice, mice with specific deletion of SM- Asic1a (MHC ^CreER - Asic1a ^fl/fl ) were protected from the development of CH-induced pulmonary hypertension and right heart hypertrophy. Furthermore, pulmonary hypertension was reversed when deletion of SM- Asic1a was initiated in conditional MHC ^CreER - Asic1a ^fl/fl mice with established pulmonary hypertension. CH-induced vascular remodeling was also significantly attenuated in pulmonary arteries from MHC ^CreER - Asic1a ^fl/fl mice. These findings were additionally supported by decreased CH-induced proliferation and migration of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) from Asic1a ^-/- mice. Together these data demonstrate that SM-, but not EC- Asic1a contributes to CH-induced pulmonary hypertension and vascular remodeling. Furthermore, these studies provide evidence for the therapeutic potential of ASIC1a inhibition to reverse pulmonary hypertension.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2022 Garcia, Yellowhair, Detweiler, Ahmadian, Herbert, Gonzalez Bosc, Resta and Jernigan.)