Endothelial Nox4 NADPH Oxidase Enhances Vasodilatation and Reduces Blood Pressure In Vivo

Abstract

Objective— Increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production is involved in the pathophysiology of endothelial dysfunction. NADPH oxidase-4 (Nox4) is a ROS-generating enzyme expressed in the endothelium, levels of which increase in pathological settings. Recent studies indicate that it generates predominantly hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), but its role in vivo remains unclear. Methods and Results— We generated transgenic mice with endothelium-targeted Nox4 overexpression (Tg) to study the in vivo role of Nox4. Tg demonstrated significantly greater acetylcholine- or histamine-induced vasodilatation than wild-type littermates. This resulted from increased H 2 O 2 production and H 2 O 2 -induced hyperpolarization but not altered nitric oxide bioactivity. Tg had lower systemic blood pressure than wild-type littermates, which was normalized by antioxidants. Conclusion— Endothelial Nox4 exerts potentially beneficial effects on vasodilator function and blood pressure that are attributable to H 2 O 2 production. These effects contrast markedly with those reported for Nox1 and Nox2, which involve superoxide-mediated inactivation of nitric oxide. Our results suggest that therapeutic strategies to modulate ROS production in vascular disease may need to separately target individual Nox isoforms.