Mechanisms Of K-Atp Channel Activation By Metabolic Stress In Mediating Lymphatic Contractile Dysfunction

Lymphatic contractile dysfunction has been implicated in the sub-clinical edema observed in multiple disease states, including obesity, metabolic syndrome and inflammatory disease. The strong positive correlation between the upregulation or hyperactivation of KATP channels in lymphatic muscle and lymphatic contractile dysfunction suggests that KATP channel activation be a common cause of the contractile dysfunction. We investigated the role of KATP channels in lymphatic muscle in response to decreases in the intracellular ATP/ADP ratio and the increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), both of which occur in metabolic diseases. We analyzed spontaneous lymphatic contractions and smooth muscle cell membrane potentials in isolated, pressurized popliteal lymphatic vessels from mice. Exposure of lymphatic vessels from WT mice to the mitochondrial complex inhibitor (antimycin, 30 nM) or the oxidative phosphorylation inhibitor (CCCP, 1 µM) led to an attenuated or complete block of lymphatic pumping, which was rescued by the KATP channel inhibitor glibenclamide (GLIB, 1 µM). In contrast, lymphatic vessels from Kir6.1-/- mice were resistant to antimycin and CCCP. Antimycin inhibited spontaneous action potentials in lymphatic muscle from WT vessels and treatment of GLIB rescued action potential generation. Antimycin increased DHR fluorescence in WT lymphatic vessels, confirming the production of ROS. The ROS scavengers, tiron (1 mM) and catalase (250 U/ml) blocked the increase in DHR fluorescence to antimycin. After pretreatment with tiron (1 mM), WT lymphatic vessels were resistant to the effects of antimycin, and there were no further changes in response to GLIB, suggesting that KATP channels were activated by ROS production. Similar results were found for catalase (250 U/ml) treatment. However, neither tiron nor catalase blocked the inhibitory effect of CCCP on lymphatic pumping. Based on these results, we propose that KATP channels in lymphatic muscle are activated by directly by metabolic stress or indirectly by ROS generation, leading to the inhibition of spontaneous lymphatic contractions and lymphatic contractile dysfunction.