Rosiglitazone stimulates nitric oxide synthesis in human aortic endothelial cells via AMP-activated protein kinase

The thiazolidinedione anti-diabetic drugs increase activation of endothelial nitric-oxide (NO) synthase by phosphorylation at Ser-1177 and increase NO bioavailability, yet the molecular mechanisms that underlie this remain poorly characterized. Several protein kinases, including AMP-activated protein kinase, have been demonstrated to phosphorylate endothelial NO synthase at Ser-1177. In the current study we determined the role of AMP-activated protein kinase in rosiglitazone-stimulated NO synthesis. Stimulation of human aortic endothelial cells with rosiglitazone resulted in the time- and dose-dependent stimulation of AMP-activated protein kinase activity and NO production with concomitant phosphorylation of endothelial NO synthase at Ser-1177. Rosiglitazone stimulated an increase in the ADP/ATP ratio in endothelial cells, and LKB1 was essential for rosiglitazone-stimulated AMPK activity in HeLa cells. Infection of endothelial cells with a virus encoding a dominant negative AMP-activated protein kinase mutant abrogated rosiglitazone-stimulated Ser-1177 phosphorylation and NO production. Furthermore, the stimulation of AMP-activated protein kinase and NO synthesis by rosiglitazone was unaffected by the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma inhibitor GW9662. These studies demonstrate that rosiglitazone is able to acutely stimulate NO synthesis in cultured endothelial cells by an AMP-activated protein kinase-dependent mechanism, likely to be mediated by LKB1.