Loss‐ and Gain‐of‐Function Mutations in the Type 1 IP3 Receptor (IP3R1) Affect Myogenic Constriction of Cerebral Resistance Arteries in Response to Intraluminal Pressure

The constriction and relaxation of resistance arteries/arterioles in response to changes in intraluminal pressure, referred to as the myogenic response, is a key physiological mechanism for the regulation of blood pressure and flow. Despite the recognized contribution of phospholipase C activity and IP3‐mediated intracellular Ca2+ release to the myogenic response, a lack of selective pharmacological agents to target the predominant IP3R1 Ca2+ release channel has prevented interrogation of this key mechanism. Mutations in the IP3R1 are known to produce either loss‐of‐function (LOF) or gain‐of‐function (GOF) phenotypes in humans that impact cerebellar activity (e.g. ataxia), yet the effect of these mutations on the cardiovascular system is not established. Here, we employed a novel genetic knock‐in mouse model with a single point mutation in the transmembrane S6 helix of IP3R1 that confers either a LOF (D2594A) or GOF (D2594K) phenotype. In preliminary experiments, the LOF and GOF mutations shifted IP3‐mediated ER Ca2+ release ~2‐fold to the right and left, respectively, compared to wild‐type (WT) IP3R1 in permeabilized HEK293 cells. In endothelium‐denuded posterior cerebral arteries of 3–4 month old WT mice, myogenic vasoconstriction was evident at ≥40 mmHg, maximal at ~120 mmHg, and declined at >120 mmHg (n=7). In contrast, myogenic constriction was initiated at a higher pressure (≥50 mmHg) and was smaller in amplitude in arteries of heterozygous IP3R1 LOF mice (n=8). In IP3R1 GOF vessels (n=7), myogenic tone developed at a lower pressure (≥20 mmHg), was maximal at ~80 mmHg, and declined at >90 mmHg. Relative levels of phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chain (LC20) and myosin phosphatase targeting subunit (MYPT1) at 10, 40, 80 and 120 mmHg, and of globular (G‐) actin content at 10, 60 and 120 mmHg, in arteries from WT, LOF and GOF mice were assessed by ultra‐high sensitivity immunoblotting. An identical pressure‐dependent increase in phospho‐LC20 content was detected in WT, LOF and GOF vessels (n=5 each). Although phospho‐MYPT1‐T855 content increased with intraluminal pressure in arteries of WT and LOF mice, it did not change in vessels of GOF mice. Elevation of intraluminal pressure decreased in G‐actin content in arteries of WT mice, did not affect G‐actin content in LOF vessels, and caused a significantly greater decrease in GOF arteries. Taken together, these data demonstrate that genetic modification of IP3R1‐mediated Ca2+ mobilization affects the myogenic response of cerebral arteries to intraluminal pressure, a vascular impairment that may contribute to neurological dysfunction in patients with LOF and GOF IP3R1 mutations. Support or Funding Information This work was funded by the following research grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research: MOP‐97988 (WCC) MOP‐142467 (APB) and PJT‐155963 (APB, WC and WCC).

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