Cited by 63Nitric Oxide and Endothelin EffectsCardiovascular Health and Disease PreventionAngiogenesis and VEGF in Cancer

Cell-Autonomous Role of Endothelial GTP Cyclohydrolase 1 and Tetrahydrobiopterin in Blood Pressure Regulation

Open access
Chuaiphichai, Surawee, McNeill, Eileen, Douglas, Gillian, Crabtree, Mark J., Bendall, Jennifer K., Hale, Ashley B., Alp, Nicholas J., Channon, Keith M.·2014·Hypertension

Abstract

Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) is an essential cofactor for endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) function and NO generation. Augmentation of BH4 levels can prevent eNOS uncoupling and can improve endothelial dysfunction in vascular disease states. However, the physiological requirement for de novo endothelial cell BH4 biosynthesis in eNOS function remains unclear. We generated a novel mouse model with endothelial cell–specific deletion of GCH1 , encoding GTP cyclohydrolase 1, an essential enzyme for BH4 biosynthesis, to test the cell-autonomous requirement for endothelial BH4 biosynthesis in vivo. Mice with a floxed GCH1 allele ( GCH1 fl/fl ) were crossed with Tie2cre mice to delete GCH1 in endothelial cells. GCH1 fl/fl Tie2cre mice demonstrated virtually absent endothelial NO bioactivity and significantly greater O 2 •– production. GCH1 fl/fl Tie2cre aortas and mesenteric arteries had enhanced vasoconstriction to phenylephrine and impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilatations to acetylcholine and SLIGRL. Endothelium-dependent vasodilatations in GCH1 fl/fl Tie2cre aortas were, in part, mediated by eNOS-derived hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), which mediated vasodilatation through soluble guanylate cyclase. Ex vivo supplementation of aortic rings with the BH4 analogue sepiapterin restored normal endothelial function and abolished eNOS-derived H 2 O 2 production in GCH1 fl/fl Tie2cre aortas. GCH1 fl/fl Tie2cre mice had higher systemic blood pressure than wild-type littermates, which was normalized by NOS inhibitor, NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester. Taken together, these studies reveal an endothelial cell-autonomous requirement for GCH1 and BH4 in regulation of vascular tone and blood pressure and identify endothelial cell BH4 as a pivotal regulator of NO versus H 2 O 2 as alternative eNOS-derived endothelial-derived relaxing factors.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1161/hypertensionaha.114.03089

Cites

38 of 38 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Mouse GCH1 KO mice show abolished endothelial NO synthesis and increased superoxide production that can be reversed by sepiapterin supplementation.

    “Mouse GCH1 KO mice show abolished endothelial NO synthesis and increased superoxide production that can be reversed by sepiapterin supplementation (173).”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Chuaiphichai, S., McNeill, E., Douglas, G., Crabtree, M. J., Bendall, J. K., Hale, A. B., Alp, N. J., & Channon, K. M.
Affiliations
John Radcliffe Hospital (GB)
Venue
Hypertension
Published
2014-09
Volume
64
Issue
3
Pages
530-540
ISSN
  • 0194-911X (ISSN-L)
  • 1524-4563
OpenAlex
W2132380263
Cited by
63
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 2
FWCI
3.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Hypertension (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust (090532, 090532/Z/09/Z)
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research (NF-SI-0508-10247, IS-BRC-0211-10025)
  • British Heart Foundation (PG/05/141/20098, FS/11/50/29038, RG/07/003/23133, CH/16/1/32013, RG/12/5/29576)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nitric Oxide and Endothelin Effects
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Health and Disease Prevention
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Angiogenesis and VEGF in Cancer
Keywords
GTP cyclohydrolase I, tetrahydrobiopterin, endothelial nitric oxide synthase, endothelial dysfunction, blood pressure regulation, endothelium-dependent vasodilation, hydrogen peroxide, soluble guanylate cyclase, sepiapterin, eNOS uncoupling, reactive oxygen species, vascular tone
MeSH terms
Acetylcholine, Animals, Biopterins, Blood Pressure, Cells, Cultured, Endothelium, Vascular, Female, GTP Cyclohydrolase, Male, Mice, Transgenic, Nitric Oxide, Oligopeptides, Oxygen, Vasodilation, Vasodilator Agents, Mice, Knockout, Models, Animal, Mice, Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review