Obesity-related hypertension is one of the world's leading causes of death and yet little is understood as to how it develops. As a result, effective targeted therapies are lacking and pharmacological treatment is unfocused. To investigate underlying microvascular mechanisms, we studied small artery dysfunction in a high fat-fed mouse model of obesity. Pressure-induced constriction and responses to endothelial and vascular smooth muscle agonists were studied using myography; the corresponding intracellular Ca2+ signaling pathways were examined using confocal microscopy. Principally, we observed that the enhanced basal tone of mesenteric resistance arteries was due to failure of intraluminal pressure-induced Ca2+ spark activation of the large conductance Ca2+ activated K+ potassium channel (BK) within vascular smooth muscle cells. Specifically, the uncoupling site of this mechanotransduction pathway was at the sarcoplasmic reticulum, distal to intraluminal pressure-induced oxidation of Protein Kinase G. In contrast, the vasodilatory function of the endothelium and the underlying endothelial IP-3 and TRPV4 (vanilloid 4 transient receptor potential ion channel) Ca2+ signaling pathways were not affected by the high-fat diet or the elevated blood pressure. There were no structural alterations of the arterial wall. Our work emphasizes the importance of the intricate cellular pathway by which intraluminal pressure maintains Ca2+ spark vasoregulation in the origin of obesity-related hypertension and suggests previously unsuspected avenues for pharmacological intervention.
Keywords: calcium signaling; endothelium; hypertension; muscle, smooth, vascular; obesity.