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Targeted disruption of the Kcnj5 gene in the female mouse lowers aldosterone levels.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Hardege, Iris 
Long, Lu 
Al Maskari, Raya 
Figg, Nicola 
O'Shaughnessy, Kevin M  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1476-7566

Abstract

Aldosterone is released from adrenal zona glomerulosa (ZG) cells and plays an important role in Na and K homoeostasis. Mutations in the human inwardly rectifying K channel CNJ type (KCNJ) 5 (KCNJ5) gene encoding the G-coupled inwardly rectifying K channel 4 (GIRK4) cause abnormal aldosterone secretion and hypertension. To better understand the role of wild-type (WT) GIRK4 in regulating aldosterone release, we have looked at aldosterone secretion in a Kcnj5 knockout (KO) mouse. We found that female but not male KO mice have reduced aldosterone levels compared with WT female controls, but higher levels of aldosterone after angiotensin II (Ang-II) stimulation. These differences could not be explained by sex differences in aldosterone synthase (Cyp11B2) gene expression in the mouse adrenal. Using RNAseq analysis to compare WT and KO adrenals, we showed that females also have a much larger set of differentially expressed adrenal genes than males (395 compared with 7). Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) of this gene set suggested that peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) nuclear receptors regulated aldosterone production and altered signalling in the female KO mouse, which could explain the reduced aldosterone secretion. We tested this hypothesis in H295R adrenal cells and showed that the selective PPARα agonist fenofibrate can stimulate aldosterone production and induce Cyp11b2. Dosing mice in vivo produced similar results. Together our data show that Kcnj5 is important for baseline aldosterone secretion, but its importance is sex-limited at least in the mouse. It also highlights a novel regulatory pathway for aldosterone secretion through PPARα that may have translational potential in human hyperaldosteronism.

Description

Keywords

GIRK4 K channel, KCNJ5 gene, RNAseq, aldosterone, knockout mice, Aldosterone, Angiotensin II, Animals, Cell Line, Tumor, Cytochrome P-450 CYP11B2, Female, G Protein-Coupled Inwardly-Rectifying Potassium Channels, Gene Expression Profiling, Humans, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Knockout, Sex Factors, Vasoconstrictor Agents, Zona Glomerulosa

Journal Title

Clin Sci (Lond)

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0143-5221
1470-8736

Volume Title

132

Publisher

Portland Press Ltd.
Sponsorship
British Heart Foundation (None)