Reactive oxygen species increased focal adhesion kinase production in pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells.

: Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a 125 kDa protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) associated with focal adhesion in many cells, which plays a major role in the integrity of cytoskeletal structure. Reactive oxygen species produced during ischemia and reperfusion injury has been found to be an important mediator of signal transduction process. We found that low dose H2O2 induced increased FAK production in pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells, which could be blocked by cycloheximide (CHX), a protein synthesis inhibitor. Pulmonary endothelial cells were cultured on DMEM medium till 100% confluent. H2O2 was added at 100 uM for 30 min. The cells were collected and lysed, then immuno-blotted with anti-FAK antibody. After 30 min treatment, we found a 30%+/-6% (N=5) increase of FAK in H2O2 treated endothelial cells. This increase could be blocked by pretreatment of cells with CHX at 5 ug/ml for 60 min. In both groups, increased phosphorylation of ERK was observed. Immuno-fluorescence revealed increased staining of FAK in the peri-nuclear region of the H2O2 treated endothelial cells. These findings suggest that H2O2 activated MAP kinase pathway leading to increased FAK production at the protein level. FAK is a 125 kDa PTK associated with focal adhesion in many cells, and it plays a major role in the integrity of cytoskeletal structure. FAK is discretely localized to focal adhesions via its C-terminal focal adhesion-targeting (FAT) sequence. FAK is regulated by integrin-dependent cell adhesion and can control tyrosine phosphorylation of downstream substrates, like paxillin. The reactive oxygen species produced during ischemia and reperfusion injury has been found to be an important mediator of the signal transduction process. Although the signaling pathways leading to hydrogen peroxide induced endothelial monolayer permeability remain ambiguous, cytoskeletal proteins are known to be essential for maintaining endothelial integrity and regulating solute flux through the monolayer. Recent evidence has shown that H2O2 stimulates cytoskeleton reorganization, cell growth/proliferation, and DNA synthesis in various cells. In our previous study, we found a significantly increased amount of FAK in endothelial cells treated with low doses of H2O2. Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases are a group of 30- to 110-kDa serine/threonine kinases. MAPKs belong to the group of kinases that are rapidly activated in response to growth factor stimulation. This family of MAPKs includes ERK, and ERK2. The activated MAPK can translocate to the nucleus where it can regulate transcription factors. Activation of p44 and p42 extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases (ERK1 and ERK2) is an important step in the cascade leading to cell growth and proliferation. In order to determine the mechanism of increased FAK production, we investigated the relationship of FAK production and ERK activation.