Insulin-stimulated cyclic guanosine monophosphate inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell migration by inhibiting Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II.

BACKGROUND Insulin resistance is associated with vascular disease. Physiological concentrations of insulin inhibit cultured vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) migration in the presence of nitric oxide, and the failure to do so in insulin-resistant states may aggravate vascular disease. We sought to determine the molecular mechanisms by which insulin inhibits VSMC migration. METHODS AND RESULTS Insulin at 1 nmol/L stimulated cGMP production in cultured rat VSMCs that were induced to express inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). VSMC migration was measured in a wound-closure assay, and the platelet-derived growth factor-AB (PDGF-AB)-stimulated component of VSMC migration after wounding was inhibited by insulin, 8-Br-cGMP, and 1-[N-0-bis(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-N-methyl-L-tyrosyl]-4-phenylpiperazine (KN-62), a selective inhibitor of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II). Wounding alone or incubating cells with only PDGF-AB stimulated CaM kinase II activity in an insulin- and 8-Br-cGMP-inhibitable manner. Transfecting VSMCs with a constitutively active CaM kinase II mutant blocked the inhibition by insulin of both wound-induced and wound plus PDGF-AB-induced VSMC migration. High intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca]i)-stimulated CaM kinase II activity was inhibited by 8-Br-cGMP by an okadaic acid-sensitive mechanism. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that in cultured rat VSMCs expressing iNOS, insulin, via stimulation of cGMP production, inhibits both wound alone-induced and the PDGF-AB-stimulated component of VSMC migration by inhibiting CaM kinase II activity. cGMP inhibits CaM kinase II at a post-[Ca]i step by a protein phosphatase-dependent mechanism.