Reactive oxygen intermediates induce monocyte chemotactic protein-1 in vascular endothelium after brief ischemia

Chemokine expression is associated with reperfusion of infarcted myocardium in the setting of tissue necrosis, intense inflammation, and inflammatory cytokine release. The specific synthesis of monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1 mRNA by cardiac venules in reperfused infarcts corresponded to the region where leukocytes normally localize. MCP-1 could be induced by exogenous tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α or by postischemic cardiac lymph containing TNF-α. However, the release of TNF-α during early reperfusion did not explain the venular localization of MCP-1 induction. To better understand the factors mediating MCP-1 induction, we examined the role of ischemia/reperfusion in a model of brief coronary occlusion in which no necrosis or inflammatory response is seen. Adult mongrel dogs were subjected to 15 minutes of coronary occlusion and 5 hours of reperfusion. Ribonuclease protection assay revealed up-regulation of MCP-1 mRNA only in ischemic segments of reperfused canine myocardium. Pretreatment with the reactive oxygen scavenger N-(2-mercaptopropionyl)-glycine completely inhibited MCP-1 induction. In situ hybridization localized MCP-1 message to small venular endothelium in ischemic areas without myocyte necrosis. Gel shift analysis of nuclear extracts from the ischemic area showed enhanced DNA binding of the transcription factors AP-1 and nuclear factor (NF)-κB, crucial for MCP-1 expression, in ischemic myocardial regions. Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated reperfusion-dependent dent nuclear translocation of c-Jun and NF-κB (p65) in small venular endothelium, only in the ischemic regions of the myocardium, that was inhibited by N-(2-mercaptopropionyl)-glycine. In vitro, treatment of cultured canine jugular vein endothelial cells with the reactive oxygen intermediate H₂O₂ induced a concentration-dependent increase in MCP-1 mRNA levels, which was inhibited by the antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine, a precursor of glutathione, but not pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, an inhibitor of NF-κB and activator of AP-1. In contrast to our studies with infarction, incubation of canine jugular vein endothelial cells with postischemic cardiac lymph did not induce MCP-1 mRNA expression suggesting the absence of cytokine-mediated MCP-1 induction after a sublethal ischemic period. These results suggest that reactive oxygen intermediate generation, after a brief ischemic episode, is capable of inducing MCP-1 expression in venular endothelium through AP-1 and NF-κB. Short periods of ischemia/reperfusion, insufficient to produce a myocardial infarction, induce MCP-1 expression, potentially mediating angiogenesis in the ischemic noninfarcted heart.