Bcl-2 decreases voltage-gated K+channel activity and enhances survival in vascular smooth muscle cells

Abstract

Cell shrinkage is an incipient hallmark of apoptosis in a variety of cell types. The apoptotic volume decrease has been demonstrated to attribute, in part, to K+efflux; blockade of plasmalemmal K+channels inhibits the apoptotic volume decrease and attenuates apoptosis. Using combined approaches of gene transfection, single-cell PCR, patch clamp, and fluorescence microscopy, we examined whether overexpression of Bcl-2, an anti-apoptotic oncoprotein, inhibits apoptosis in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMC) by diminishing the activity of voltage-gated K+(Kv) channels. A human bcl-2gene was infected into primary cultured rat PASMC using an adenoviral vector. Overexpression of Bcl-2 significantly decreased the amplitude and current density of Kv currents ( IKv). In contrast, the apoptosis inducer staurosporine (ST) enhanced IKv. In bcl-2-infected cells, however, the ST-induced increase in IKvwas completely abolished, and the ST-induced apoptosis was significantly inhibited compared with cells infected with an empty adenovirus (− bcl-2). Blockade of Kv channels in control cells (− bcl-2) by 4-aminopyridine also inhibited the ST-induced increase in IKvand apoptosis. Furthermore, overexpression of Bcl-2 accelerated the inactivation of IKvand downregulated the mRNA expression of the pore-forming Kv channel α-subunits (Kv1.1, Kv1.5, and Kv2.1). These results suggest that inhibition of Kv channel activity may serve as an additional mechanism involved in the Bcl-2-mediated anti-apoptotic effect on vascular smooth muscle cells.